Newsroom

Hey friends,
Data Center World wrapped up — and it was electric out in Washington, D.C.

You know I can’t resist a good post from the field. If you missed the madness, here’s a quick recap straight from the show floor:

1. Post 1: Day One Kickoff
2. Post 2: Scaling for the AI World
3. Post 3: We Need Power. Lots of It.

Also — yes, I had an exclusive chat with Kevin O’Leary. Curious what he said?
Read the recap here

What a week at Data Center World 2025—new faces, fresh ideas and unforgettable moments at every turn. As the final day winds down, we’re checking in on the latest data center news making headlines, starting with another round of data center mega-projects and proposals pushing the limits of the power grid.  

As we know, AI is fueling an unprecedented building boom, and while the industry races to keep up, a dose of reality is setting in: electricity isn’t infinite, and neither is patience. From Elon Musk’s latest grand vision to regulatory moves that could make expansion even trickier, the data center world is caught between ambition and infrastructure constraints. Let’s get into the latest data center news making headlines.  

We’re less than one month away from Data Center World 2025 in Washington, D.C., happening April 14–17, and the excitement is building! As the epicenter of data center innovation, this year’s event promises groundbreaking insights, dynamic discussions, and cutting-edge solutions. Our teams are hard at work, ensuring this will be our most impactful conference yet. One keynote you won’t want to miss is Data Centers at Scale in the Age of Accelerated Computing.

Today’s data centers are very different from those of 20 years ago in terms of what is on the floor, how the racks are organized, overall rack densities, and the amount of compute power that is available. Peering into the crystal ball, how will data centers look in the future and how are data center design and construction techniques evolving? Such questions will be answered during the Data Center Build track at Data Center World 2025.  

We are assembling some of the brightest minds in chip making, construction, design, infrastructure, cooling, and power distribution to dig into the many ways in which data centers are changing. The traditional approach of designing each new data center from scratch is fading as modularization and standardization take hold. If this is the future of the industry, it becomes even more critical that the highest degree of quality is maintained.  

“Third party studies show that 30% of work that's done in construction has to be done twice,” said Matthew Kleiman, CEO of Cumulus QES,a provider of systems to digitize mission-critical construction and maintenance activities. “It’s been that way for  

decades, yet 90% of data generated on a construction site isn't used because the data is kept in silos that don't talk to each other.”   

His talk as part of the Data Center Build track at Data Center World 2025, What Data Center Construction Can Learn From Boeing's Quality Woes, uses a real world examples of serious failures in quality control at Boeing to showcase ways that data center construction quality can be greatly improved. Kleiman will lay out how many of Boeing's issues were traced to failure to have proper procedures, failure to properly instruct workers on how to follow procedures, and failure to ensure procedures were followed before aircraft left the factory. Unfortunately, many data centers suffer similar issues, which are compounded by tight schedules and inexperienced labor. The solution, he says, is to follow the ISO 9000 framework to ensure there is a procedure for all work activities, that workers are properly trained on each procedure, and procedure compliance is objectively verified before commissioning, will prevent costly rework and safety issues such as overheating and arc flashes.  

That’s just one of many sessions that will make up the Data Center Build track at Data Center World 2025. 

One of the main reasons so many people attend Data Center World is to hear about the latest technologies and trends that are changing the data center. This year’s Emerging IT & Data Center Technologies track delivers an impressive array of speakers who will let attendees in on what’s hot, which breakthroughs have the most substance, and which ones remain largely in the hype category.  

One of the hottest areas is data center cooling. The profile of liquid cooling has been elevated over the past couple of years due to AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads becoming mainstream.  

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) took note. It announcedfederal funding in 2022 as part of the COOLERCHIPS program. Many organizations applied but only 15 were selected. Program Director Peter de Bock set ambitious targets for participating vendors and academic institutions: Develop revolutionary cooling solutions that enable high-power-density AI and chipsets—and reduce cooling energy and water usage by over 90%. The goal is to lower total cooling energy expenditure to less than 5% of a typical data center’s IT load at any time and in any U.S. location for a high-density compute system.  

De Bock spoke at last year’s Data Center World. He’s back again in 2025 and will showcase real progress in the attainment of program goals during his session, “Hot Data, Cool Solutions: ARPA-E COOLERCHIPS Efficiency for Next Generation (AI) Data Centers.”  

“AI training and inferencing compute needs are pushing for ever larger and more energy dense racks in the 100 kW to 250 kW per rack range,” said de Bock. “The transformational cooling technologies developed under the COOLERCHIPS program are focused on reducing cooling energy by 90% and significant progress is being made.”  

For the first 18 months of the program, there was some pushback from participants on the idea of racks in excess of 100 Kw. This was seen as not only high, but perhaps beyond the bounds of achievability. How things have changed over the past year...

Power sourcing is a critical issue for the data center industry, which is why Data Center World 2025 has adopted the theme Powering the Future for this year’s program. The agenda will feature 10+ sessions in the Power Sourcing & Sustainability track and high-level keynotes addressing these challenges.

The urgency around power solutions is evident in recent headlines, with renewed interest in nuclear energy. Discussions of a nuclear renaissance gained momentum 20 years ago but stalled after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan. Today, enthusiasm is resurging, driven by AI’s growing demand for power.

A Morgan Stanley study predicts that generative AI applications like ChatGPT could account for 75% of U.S. data center MWs (as a percentage of 2022 data center available power) by 2025. Boston Consulting believes overall U.S. data center power consumption will grow from 2% of today to 7.5% by 2030. Data centers want power wherever they can get it, whether it is sourced from nuclear, solar, wind, batteries, the grid, or from on-site natural gas generation.

It’s been a busy season in the data center industry, with many of you returning from events in San Jose, Austin, and Las Vegas, and getting back to work before the end-of-year rush. As you plan ahead, we are excited to announce a new addition to the 2025 calendar: Data Center Asia, which will take place from July 15-17 at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong.

Data Center Asia 2025 will bring together industry leaders to discuss the future of data center innovation in the rapidly growing Asia-Pacific region. Hong Kong, in particular, has emerged as a critical hub for data centers due to its strategic location, robust connectivity infrastructure, and business-friendly regulatory environment. As one of Asia's leading financial and technological centers, the region benefits from proximity to mainland China and Southeast Asia, making it a prime location for companies looking to expand their digital presence and capitalize on the booming demand for cloud services, AI, and big data.

The city is experiencing significant growth in its data center market, driven by rising investments in digital infrastructure, increasing data consumption, and a surge in demand for edge computing and sustainable energy solutions. With global enterprises setting up regional headquarters, Hong Kong's data center landscape is poised for continued expansion, offering ample opportunities for innovation and collaboration.

Data Center Asia 2025 will offer a platform to explore these opportunities, with sessions designed to tackle the specific challenges and trends shaping the Asia-Pacific market. Participants can expect to learn from global experts, explore emerging technologies, and discover solutions tailored to meet the evolving needs of the region. Whether you're a data center operator, Internet Data Center (IDC) experts, EPC contractors, data center infrastructure manufacturer, distributors, end user or more, this is your chance to enhance your strategy and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Data Center Asia 2025 will also be co-located with three other major technology events across seven halls at AsiaWorld-Expo:

• Build4Asia, which focuses on green building, smart facilities, and power management.
• The Battery Show Asia, showcasing advancements in battery and energy storage technologies.
• Mobility Tech Asia, exploring the future of new energy vehicles across land, air, and water.

You heard it here first. 

It takes an impressive group of thoughtful, dedicated industry leaders to curate the Data Center World conference program.  Many hours are volunteered to make sure every session is timely, important, inspirational and vendor neutral.  To support that goal, we are pleased to announce Bill Skinner, Head of Data Centers at Bloomberg, Ryan Gruver, IT Director from Banner Health, Ben Steward Sr VP of Operations at NTT Data Centers, Alan Howard Principal Analyst, Omdia will be returning this year to the conference advisory board for 2025.

We are excited to announce new board members-- Bryan Darby, Vice President, Strategic Technology Initiatives at QTS and Melissa Olson Business Development Manager with Belimo have agreed to bring their expertise and insight to further bolster the program. Keep in mind, this is only a snapshot of the full advisory board that makes the event possible.  More announcements to come soon!