From SpaceX and xAI’s orbital-focused merger and multi-billion-dollar capex to the latest next-gen projects and renewable PPAs, it’s been yet another eventful stretch in the sector. Plus, what are the latest companies to be hit by layoffs? Here’s a roundup of the latest developments shaping the global data center industry.
Big Mergers, Bigger Spending
One announcement drawing attention is Elon Musk’s decision to merge SpaceX and xAI, creating what could become the world’s most valuable private company. The merger values the combined business at around $1.25 trillion and is centered on orbital compute ambitions. Musk argues that satellite-based infrastructure could one day deliver 1TW of AI capacity without terrestrial constraints, assuming SpaceX’s Starship reaches reliable reuse at scale.
Back on Earth, Amazon said it expects to spend $200 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, despite some investor concerns. The bulk of that spend is expected to flow into AWS data centers. Google and Meta are not far behind, projecting an estimated $175–185 billion and $115–135 billion in capex for 2026, respectively.
Supporting that buildout is a tightening supplier ecosystem. Meta’s $6 billion fiber agreement with Corning will supply the company with next-generation fiber, cable, and connectivity solutions with the goal of enabling faster buildout of its U.S. data centers and supporting AI infrastructure expansion. And Texas Instruments’ $7.5 billion acquisition of Silicon Labs points to continued semiconductor consolidation, particularly around wireless and edge portfolios that increasingly intersect with data center deployments.
Global Cloud Partnerships
A couple notable cloud partnerships were also announced. Dutch investment company Prosus signed a three-year cloud and AI agreement with AWS worth hundreds of millions of dollars, extending AWS’s footprint across Latin America, Europe, and India through ecommerce, payments, and marketplace platforms. Meanwhile, AI compute company Subgen has signed a cloud agreement with Alibaba Cloud Netherlands, reflecting growing interest in alternative providers that can support AI workloads while aligning with European regulations.
Tech Layoffs Continue
Even as infrastructure spending accelerates, headcount continues to move in the opposite direction. Amazon has confirmed roughly 16,000 layoffs, including within AWS, following unconfirmed rumors weeks earlier. At the same time, T-Mobile cut nearly 400 roles in Washington state, including data center positions, while Sweden’s Telia announced another 600 job reductions just over a year after its previous workforce trim. The message is familiar: scale no longer guarantees staffing growth.
Addressing Power Constraints
Capital may be abundant, but power isn’t. Tennessee Valley Authority said data centers accounted for 18% of its industrial load in 2025 and expects that share to double by 2030, prompting plans for more than 6GW of new generation. NextEra Energy similarly disclosed strong hyperscale demand, with roughly 20GW of large-load interest under discussion across multiple markets. To account for the demand, NextEra said it’s targeting 15GW of new generation by 2035.
In Virginia, lawmakers are preparing to debate more than 60 data center-related bills, including proposals that could slow new projects until interconnection backlogs ease – a clear sign that grid readiness continues to shape development timelines.
Energy Partnerships and Capacity Deals
Hyperscalers also continue to lock in long-term power across regions. Google signed more than 1GW of solar PPAs in Texas and a 100MW offshore wind agreement in Germany. AWS also secured a 110MW offshore wind agreement in Germany, while Meta added a Texas solar PPA tied to a 176MWdc project. Meanwhile, Microsoft brought a new Italian solar project online under an existing long-term deal, and Cisco finalized a 15-year solar PPA in Poland supporting multiple sites. Lastly, Liberty Energy disclosed a 330MW gas power deal supporting a Texas data center expansion, with phased delivery planned later this decade.
Local Developments, Global Ambitions
Data center construction and development continues on a global scale. Oracle Database@AWS is expanding into Canada and Australia, with Oracle hardware being deployed in physical data centers to support the multicloud solution. Australia is also positioning itself as a top three AI infrastructure hub, with newly announced plans to add nearly 6GW of data center capacity by 2030.
In Europe, France is planning to build a 250MW sovereign AI campus in the city of Bordeaux, while Edinburgh councilors have blocked a 213MW project despite staff recommendations to approve it. Microsoft has also started construction on a data center in Bornasco, Italy, furthering the company’s goal of making Northern Italy one of its largest data center regions in Europe.
In the U.S., Aligned is committing $10 billion to construct two gas-powered data centers near Pittsburgh, and local authorities have denied EdgeConneX’s land annexation request for its proposed 680-acre Ohio campus after fierce community opposition.
Innovation Looks Smaller, Smarter, and More Distributed
What next-gen projects and innovations are in the news? Quite a few, actually. A collaboration between Nvidia, Prologis, EPRI, and InfraPartners is studying the deployment of containerized “micro” data centers at utility substations, ranging from 5-20MW, with at least five pilot sites expected across the U.S. by the end of 2026. In the UK, National Grid – partnering with Atos – is advancing a digital twin of its transmission network to model future data center demand and potentially accelerate upgrade planning decisions by up to 70%.
Elsewhere, Green Mountain launched a heat-reuse project in Rjukan, Norway, supplying excess heat from its RJU1-Rjukan facility to a nearby trout farm. The first phase has a 1.75MW capacity, with plans to scale to 8MW. And Danish researchers developed a 3D-printed two-phase liquid-cooling vapor chamber for data centers and high-performance computers, achieving 600 watts of cooling without pumps. Lastly, The Idaho National Laboratory brought its Teton supercomputer online, offering 20.8 petaflops of compute for nuclear reactor modeling, four times its previous capacity.