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Tech News
Data Center Watch, a research initiative from 10a Labs, reports that 45 large-scale data center projects worth $68 billion were blocked or delayed in the second quarter due to community pushback. The group tracked 843 opposition groups across 49 states, with only Hawaii lacking any organized resistance, and noted 30 state legislatures have introduced or passed measures on data center siting, power and water use.
A financial presentation seen by the Financial Times shows OpenAI expects to spend $278 billion more than it earns between 2026 and 2030, driven mainly by $856 billion in compute and infrastructure costs. Even as revenue is projected to jump from $36 billion in 2026 to $350 billion in 2030, spending will still outstrip income by a wide margin. The figures were reportedly shared with investors ahead of OpenAI's anticipated IPO.
Bain Capital Ventures has closed a new $1.6 billion fund, up 14% from its prior $1.4 billion vehicle raised three years ago. The firm plans to deploy the capital mainly into AI-focused startups, targeting infrastructure, healthcare, physical AI, and security as key sectors it believes will define what it calls the 'post-AGI era'.
Langdock, a Berlin-based enterprise AI platform serving roughly 13,000 organisations, has dismantled its US holding company and reorganised into a Societas Europaea registered in Germany. The switch, which began in early 2026 and cost several million euros, reverses the common practice among European startups of setting up US parent entities to attract investors.
A new report from the nonprofit Basel Action Network estimates that AI infrastructure will generate far more electronic waste than previously projected, potentially amounting to enough discarded material to fill 23 million shipping containers by 2050. Unlike earlier estimates that only counted servers and GPUs, this analysis includes power supplies, cooling systems, backup power, and networking equipment tied to data centers, plus a category BAN calls 'AI Waste Contagion.' The group attributes 15-20 percent of the world's projected 211 million metric tons of annual e-waste by 2050 to AI-related infrastructure.
In an interview, a Syensqo executive described a 'performance pyramid' framework, where commodity materials sit at the bottom and high-performance specialty materials sit at the top. He explained that AI's rapid advancement is piling on technical requirements—heat tolerance, purity, electrical performance, chemical and plasma resistance, long-term stability—that push semiconductor and data center materials toward the top of that pyramid, an area where Syensqo focuses its work.
The U.S. Department of Defense is reportedly negotiating a $5 billion loan to Fluidstack, a company that builds AI computing infrastructure. The deal is being advised by a bank founded by Palmer Luckey, a prominent early backer of Donald Trump.
Google announced plans to invest at least $15 billion in Finland's AI infrastructure by 2028, marking its largest single investment anywhere in Europe. The company also struck a 22-year power supply deal with Finnish utility Fortum and is examining business models that could back new nuclear reactors at Fortum's Loviisa plant.
Google announced plans to invest $15 billion in AI infrastructure in Finland, expanding its data center footprint in the country. The move adds to a wave of similar large-scale investments by U.S. tech companies aiming to grow AI computing capacity outside the United States.
Google announced a 13 billion euro ($15.1 billion) investment to build out AI infrastructure in Finland, making it the company's largest single investment ever made in Europe. The move underscores Finland's growing appeal to hyperscalers seeking abundant land and power resources that are increasingly scarce elsewhere on the continent.
British AI infrastructure startup Nscale, founded two years ago, is reportedly pursuing $3.5 billion in financing ahead of a possible IPO as soon as this month. That total reportedly includes $1.5 billion in convertible notes sold to investors and an additional $2 billion from Nvidia, which also backed Nscale's $1.1 billion Series B round in March.
GoPro announced a $285 million merger with optical-photonics firm Starman Optical, aiming to enter the AI infrastructure market through Starman's optical transceiver technology. The camera maker also plans to expand into defense, government, robotics and aerospace sectors while retaining its core action-camera business. The news comes days after YouTuber Markiplier disclosed an 8.5% stake, becoming GoPro's largest individual shareholder.