According to the New York Times, Meta has been classifying its massive data center construction projects as experimental 'pilot models' under a decades-old R&D tax credit, allowing it to claim billions in federal tax savings. The company reportedly saved $2 billion in 2024 and nearly $4 billion in its 2025 fiscal year, making it the largest known beneficiary of the credit among public companies, per securities filings cited by the Times.
Google is testing a prototype data center positioned in space to explore running AI workloads beyond Earth's surface. The initiative examines whether solar power and the vacuum of space can support computing infrastructure typically housed in terrestrial facilities.
Public opposition to data center construction, initially concentrated in the US, is now affecting projects across Europe and parts of Asia. STL Partners research cited by CNBC estimates roughly $42 billion in European data center investment has already faced delays or cancellations, compared with about $77 billion in the US. The European Data Center Monitor counted more than 70 rejected or restricted projects between January and April 2025, exceeding all of 2024.
Amazon announced it will donate more than $1 billion over five years to communities near its data centers, letting residents direct funds toward education, job training, energy affordability and water initiatives. AWS CEO Matt Garman also pledged the company won't raise local power bills or deplete water supplies, claiming 75 percent of projects already meet a 2030 'water positive' goal. Garman argued that opposition to data centers risks letting China overtake the US in AI development.
Finnish newspaper Kaleva reports Google cleared more than 300 hectares of forest across four sites in northern Finland for two new data centers while required environmental assessments were still underway. The Finnish Nature Conservation Association says Google's local project company, Tuike Finland Oy, began felling trees months before the reviews concluded, and has asked regulators to halt activity until the assessments finish. Google says the clearing complied with Finland's Forestry Act and that it had already conducted extensive environmental evaluations.
Amazon CEO Matt Garman announced in a blog post that the company no longer requires nondisclosure agreements with county officials negotiating data center projects. He also pledged $1 billion over five years for community college programs, workforce training, and energy efficiency upgrades in areas hosting Amazon data centers.
Micron reported fiscal Q4 2026 revenue of $54.23 billion, nearly five times higher than a year earlier, with a record 87% gross margin company-wide. Its Mobile and Client consumer unit posted the highest operating margin among its four segments at 88%, even though it was the only unit to ship less memory than the prior quarter. Micron attributed the unit's 14% quarter-over-quarter revenue growth to higher pricing offsetting lower bit shipments.
Amazon announced a new initiative to add $1 billion in community support as it seeks local buy-in for its ongoing data center build-out. The company is also promising greater transparency about its facilities, aiming to address concerns from residents and officials near proposed and existing sites.
Microsoft announced it will redesign some data centers to blend into surrounding landscapes using what it calls 'biomimicry,' aiming to make the facilities visually and ecologically less disruptive to nearby communities. The move comes as residents in places like San Antonio increasingly object to the traffic, noise, lighting and loss of green space caused by rapidly multiplying hyperscale data centers.
Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman published a lengthy blog post urging Americans to support AI data center construction, warning that blocking projects could harm US economic and national security interests. Garman cited more than 100 data center moratoriums under consideration nationwide and announced a 'Data Center Commitment' including job creation pledges, protections against local electricity rate hikes, and over $1 billion in community investment. Amazon also said it has stopped using nondisclosure agreements with government agencies after a lawmaker's inquiry into such deals.
The Department of Defense is notifying over 2 million current and former service members that hackers accessed personnel data through the Defense Manpower Data Center starting last October. The stolen records included Social Security numbers, names, addresses, sex, race and occupational specialty, affecting 2.8 million living individuals. This follows a separate breach last month in which the ransomware group ShinyHunters claimed to have stolen FBI employee records.
Google sent a prototype orbital compute satellite, built by Planet Labs, aboard a SpaceX rocket from California, marking the first time one of its Tensor Processing Units has flown in space. The test will check whether the chip can sustain a kilowatt of continuous power, manage heat, and run AI models in short bursts without failure. Google's Travis Beals, who leads the effort called Project Suncatcher, said a more advanced two-satellite demo with laser communication links is planned for next year.
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