US stock markets saw sharp declines on Thursday, with the Nasdaq hit hardest among indices tracking major tech firms including Alphabet, Nvidia, Meta and Apple. The sell-off followed this week's midterm elections, in which Democrats secured sweeping wins that give the party full control of Congress. Several prominent Democratic candidates had campaigned on curbing the unchecked growth of data centres that support AI development.
bbc.co.uk
· 2026-11-06
About 100 protesters, organized by the Geef Tegengas group, broke into the construction site of a planned Microsoft data center in Amsterdam, with some climbing a crane to hang a banner reading 'fuck AI' and another declaring 'Microsoft powers genocide.' Protesters chanted slogans against Microsoft and in support of Palestine at the site, which is being built by Pure Data Centres under a project approved before Amsterdam's 2030 ban on new data centers.
theverge.com
· 2026-11-06
Data centres, the warehouse facilities powering AI services like ChatGPT and online activity generally, are drawing bipartisan political opposition ahead of the 3 November US midterms. Both Republican and Democratic candidates have spoken out against their rapid growth, citing heavy electricity consumption and environmental concerns, while President Trump has dismissed the backlash as a 'sick conspiracy.'
bbc.co.uk
· 2026-10-25
Firmus, an AI data centre operator backed by Nvidia, Blackstone and Jane Street, has abandoned plans for a stock market debut that would have valued it above $30bn, citing market volatility and investor interest. The company said it will instead seek funding through private markets while weighing other public and private options. The withdrawal follows UniSuper and other institutional investors declining to join the IPO over valuation concerns.
bbc.co.uk
· 2026-10-09
Finland's Supervisory Agency (LVV) ordered a suspension of preparatory construction at Google-linked data centre sites in Muhos and Kajaani after finding work proceeded without a required environmental impact assessment. The agency said activities included clearing trees and topsoil, building roads and storage areas, and altering ditches, and has given Tuike Finland until 14 October to explain its next steps, with the suspension due by 23 October. Google acknowledged it had fallen short of its own standards and said it would follow the agency's guidance.
bbc.co.uk
· 2026-10-06
Bain and Company's latest technology report estimates the AI sector must generate $6 trillion in annual revenue by 2031 to justify current data centre investment. The firm projects $4.2 trillion of that from new products in areas like search, advertising and physical AI, $1-1.4 trillion from enterprise productivity gains, and $200-400 billion from consumer subscriptions and advertising.
thenationalnews.com
· 2026-09-29
In Ulanqab, a farming region in Inner Mongolia known as China's 'potato capital', large-scale data centre construction is underway alongside agricultural land. Workers described the project as proceeding in multiple phases, with one phase completed roughly every year and more planned. These facilities are intended to provide the computing power behind China's AI ambitions.
bbc.co.uk
· 2026-09-22
BBC correspondent Laura Bicker visited data centre sites in Inner Mongolia, part of a wave of construction underpinning China's AI ambitions. Her report contrasts public attitudes toward data centre development in China with those in the US, coming just before a planned meeting between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump in Washington.
bbc.co.uk
· 2026-09-22
Google announced a record €13bn investment in Finland to build three new data centres, expand its existing Hamina facility, and support energy infrastructure for AI growth. As part of the deal, Google signed a 22-year agreement with Fortum to purchase up to half the electricity output from the Loviisa nuclear plant.
bbc.co.uk
· 2026-09-09
The Economist reports that despite fears of AI-driven job destruction, US employment data shows no broad downturn: unemployment sits at 4.1% and young workers' job prospects remain strong. While companies like Microsoft, Meta, Block and Intuit have cut roles tied to automation—averaging about 16,000 AI-related layoffs monthly—the publication estimates AI has simultaneously generated roughly 1 million new jobs through data-center construction, startup hiring and new corporate AI roles, dwarfing the roughly 200,000 layoffs attributed to the technology since mid-2023.
slashdot.org
· 2026-09-07
Australia now hosts 162 data centres with 90 more planned and over A$155bn in investment lined up, driven by cheap energy, gas reserves and available land. Residents near facilities in Sydney's Lane Cove and Marsden Park report constant humming and worry about proximity to homes, while a proposed one-gigawatt facility in western Sydney could become the country's largest single energy consumer.
bbc.co.uk
· 2026-09-03
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