👋 Hey friends,
The past couple of weeks have been an absolute whirlwind - conferences, keynotes, panels, hallway conversations, late-night brainstorms… you name it. From Austin to San Antonio to Chicago, we dove deep into how AI, power, and infrastructure are reshaping our industry at lightning speed ⚡
Let’s break it down 👇

1. DCAC Live: “AI Is the New Electricity”
👉 LinkedIn Post
👉 LinkedIn Post Wrap
Wade Vinson’s keynote absolutely set the tone: AI isn’t just the next wave, it’s the new electricity. His breakdown of post-training vs pre-training compute requirements (30x!) and NVIDIA’s “AI Factory” vision hit home.
This wasn’t incremental - this was a blueprint rewrite for data centers. Super pods, 3.5MW racks, Ruben GPUs with 50x ROI.
And the market numbers back it up 👇
📈 North America: 15.5 GW capacity
🏭 Vacancy: 2.3% (1% in NOVA)
💰 Investment valuations: +161% since 2019
🧠 Forecast: nearly $1 trillion in new data center investment by 2030

It truly felt like standing on the edge of the AI frontier - where business models, land, cooling, and power are no longer side notes, but the main storyline.

2. ⚡ Data Center World POWER: Power Is the New Currency
👉 BusinessWire Recap
👉 CRE Daily
👉 LinkedIn Post Day 1
Day 1 kicked off with grid modernization in Texas and how Compass Datacenters is innovating to meet AI’s unprecedented power demands. I also had the chance to talk with Governor Mike Dunleavy about Alaska’s massive potential - think natural cooling + abundant renewables + resiliency = future frontier 🌍

We dove deep into how to power AI sustainably and at scale - not just theory, but real strategies to meet growing demand.

Day 2 was 🔥: from floating nuclear data centers to multi-GW campuses with Lancium & Dell, off-grid innovations, and advanced battery systems at the Southwest Research Institute. Over 1100 attendees, and we hit capacity. Next stop: Grapevine, TX!

The momentum behind AI data centers is opening up entirely new ecosystem plays. As Channel Futures highlights, surging AI infrastructure demand is reshaping opportunities across the entire value chain — from power and cooling to services and integration.
👉 James Walker’s DCK Recap

3. 🏙️ BISNOW DICE Chicago: AI Meets the Midwest
👉 LinkedIn Post

Chicago absorbed 308 MW in 2024, securing its place as one of the hottest regional markets after NOVA. But what’s even more fascinating is where the momentum is shifting - Omaha, Lafayette, Columbus, Des Moines, Minneapolis - all becoming edge growth zones thanks to lower costs and strong connectivity.

Cooling innovations stole the spotlight: liquid and immersion are no longer “future tech”, they’re here and critical. Talent shortages also loomed large, reinforcing how resilience, sustainability, and adaptability define a competitive edge.

4. 🎙️ Podcasts & Panels: Big Conversations, Bigger Ideas
👉 Not Your Father’s Data Center Podcast
From fireside chats with Chris Crosby to recording with Raymond Hawkins, the conversations have one theme: the scale and speed of transformation is generational. Power crunches, ecosystem thinking, creative solutions - it’s all happening right now.

5. 🧠 Vertiv Tech Fair: Rethinking the Blueprint
👉 LinkedIn Post
We dug into next-gen power architectures (800V & 1500V DC), hybrid cooling, and smarter operations. As rack densities blow past 100 kW and capacity pipelines double, success now depends on wiping the whiteboard clean and designing for what’s next.
Also: COSI as a venue = 🤩👏

6. 📰 Market Concentration & AI Power Plays
👉 Investopedia Article
I had the chance to share a few thoughts for this piece exploring whether the business of AI is being dominated by a handful of major players. It’s a fascinating look at how market dynamics, infrastructure scale, and capital flows are shaping this new era.

7. 🔥 Laying the Pipes for AGI
Woah... this is SUCH a cool post. Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) isn't a lightning strike. It's a slow burn. And the plumbing behind it? That's where the real fire starts.

At Apolo, we keep hearing the same question: “When will we reach AGI?”
But here’s the better one: “Are we already laying the pipes for it — and don’t even realize it?”
In our latest blog, our brilliant CTO Constantine Goltsev dives into the infrastructure quietly enabling AGI’s rise:

• Exascale systems
• Distributed training pipelines
• Specialized memory hierarchies
• Foundation models that never stop learning

This is NOT hype or sci-fi — it’s happening now.
👉 Read the blog

8. 🤖 AI Showcase: Looking Ahead
A fantastic on-demand session looking at current and emerging AI innovations shaping the future of infrastructure.
👉 Watch on demand