Washington Greenlights Faster Builds, Raises Oversight Questions

Let’s start on the federal front. President Trump signed an executive order that aims to significantly reduce permitting friction for AI-heavy data center megaprojects over 100MW. The order opens up access to federal lands, trims environmental reviews, and paves the way for grants and tax perks. The Department of Energy has already named the first four federal sites for AI data center projects, signaling that ground-level action is underway.

The executive order pairs with the White House’s AI Action Plan, a 90-point policy wish list calling for, among other things, reduced regulations under the Clean Air and Water Acts. Adding some color, Trump raised eyebrows during the announcement of the plan when he asked, “What the hell is Nvidia?” after being told that breaking up the chip giant to force competition would be a challenge.

Hyperscale Spending Frenzy

Big Tech’s capital spending is soaring to historic highs, according to recently released earnings reports. Google boosted its 2025 capex forecast to $85 billion, spurred by explosive AI and cloud demand. About two-thirds of that spend went directly into servers.

Microsoft Azure, not to be left behind, clocked in $75 billion in annual revenue, deployed 2GW of new data center capacity, and anticipates a record-breaking $30 billion capex next quarter.

AWS, meanwhile, leads in revenue, reporting a $123 billion run rate. While it has slower YoY growth compared to its rivals, capex is still projected to exceed $118 billion this year.

Beyond hyperscaler spending, enterprise-cloud partnerships are deepening. ServiceNow has reportedly signed a $1.2 billion deal with Google Cloud. The contract is expected to span five years.

OpenAI and Oracle are also significantly expanding their Stargate AI data center partnership with a new 4.5GW deal, bringing the total capacity under development to over 5GW. This expansion reinforces the companies' commitment to the estimated $500 billion project, despite earlier reports of a slow start for the Stargate venture.

Land Grabs Surge, But Not Without Local Pushback

In other news, the race to secure land and power for new data center campuses continues. “Project Blue” in Tucson, Arizona – a 290-acre site planned for up to 600MW of capacity – has been revealed to be an AWS development, according to Arizona Luminaria. The development has stoked community outrage over water use and the project's opacity.

Elsewhere in the state, Vermaland’s $33 billion La Osa Project in Arizona is eyeing a colossal 3GW data center development in Pinal County. In Wyoming, Crusoe is planning a 1.8GW data center campus, leveraging natural gas pipelines in partnership with Tallgrass. Aligned Data Centers is also expanding its footprint with a new 200-acre AI campus in Coshocton, Ohio, near a former power plant site.

Yet, with scale comes scrutiny. Community resistance to data center developments and rezonings continues to rise nationwide:

• In Virginia, AWS has withdrawn its proposal for a third data center campus in Louisa County after facing fierce pushback from residents concerned about light pollution, air quality, and noise. AWS hasn’t ruled out revisiting the project.
• Near San Francisco, a data center project was scaled down by a third after environmental groups raised concerns over endangered species habitats.
• In Georgia, a 1.2GW campus rezoning proposal was denied, despite promises of economic benefits. The Monroe County Board sided with residents worried about traffic, noise, and construction impacts.
• In Pennsylvania, Dorrance Township officials are preemptively debating data center zoning ordinances to avoid being caught off-guard by future proposals.

Energy, Emissions & The Race for Sustainable Solutions

While the immense energy demands of hyperscale projects are well-documented, one project is putting that consumption into a stunning new perspective. It’s being reported that a Wyoming AI campus could consume up to 1.8 GW initially – five times the state’s residential demand. This is raising concerns over local power rate increases in the least populous U.S. state.

At the same time, hyperscalers are working to mitigate their environmental footprint. Microsoft signed a massive carbon removal deal with Vaulted Deep and is collaborating with Oklo and Vertiv to explore nuclear-powered cooling technologies. Google, meanwhile, has struck its first long-duration energy storage partnership with Energy Dome, leveraging a CO2-based system to support its 24/7 carbon-free energy ambitions.

The sustainability push isn’t confined to energy sourcing. Meta announced its pioneering new approaches to how data centers are built, piloting mass timber construction for its campuses – a move expected to cut embodied carbon by 41%. The company has also teamed up with Amrize to develop AI-optimized concrete mixes, aiming to set a new standard for sustainable building materials across the industry.