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Kioxia has introduced its LD4-series SSDs in the E1.L form factor, built on BiCS8 3D QLC NAND and targeted at read-heavy hyperscale workloads such as AI storage and object storage. The drives currently ship at up to 30.72TB, but Kioxia says the underlying architecture has been validated to support capacities as high as 122.88TB, without giving a launch timeline for those larger models.
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.
Management consulting firm Bain and Co. released an analysis stating the global AI industry must generate $6 trillion in annual revenue by 2031 to cover the capital being poured into data centers. The firm estimates commercial AI tools will contribute $1.8 trillion of that figure, leaving a $4.2 trillion gap that would need to come from elsewhere. Bloomberg reported the findings, which echo earlier warnings from hedge fund manager Harris Kupperman that data center economics don't currently add up.
An Entrepreneur op-ed argues that electricity, not chip supply, is becoming the binding constraint on AI growth, citing IEA projections that global data-center power use could nearly double from 485 to 950 terawatt-hours by 2030, with AI-specific demand tripling. It notes that by 2027 a single advanced server rack could draw as much peak power as 65 households, and that grid constraints could delay roughly 20% of planned data-center projects.
Data center developer Crusoe has secured a new $3 billion funding round valuing the company at $30 billion, according to Bloomberg. Atreides Management and Valor Equity Partners co-led the deal, with Mubadala Capital, part of Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, also participating.