All the latest updates on AI data centers

Massive new data centers are the physical foundation for tech companies’ hopes and dreams for AI. But the rush to expand warehouses full of energy-hungry servers has also kicked up fights across the world over their impact on power grids, utility bills, nearby communities, and the environment.

From audacious plans to launch data centers into space to the latest legal battles over pollution, The Verge has the biggest news and reporting surrounding data centers.

• 43 percent of Americans blame data centers as a major reason for rising power bills according to a Pew Research Center survey. This is becoming a bipartisan issue as both Republicans and Democrats cite high costs.
• A 40,000-acre data center project was approved in Utah despite community outcry. It is expected to use 9 gigawatts of power—more than double the state's current usage.
• Political battlegrounds are forming in states like Georgia, where 47 percent of local voters oppose multibillion-dollar data center developments.
• Data centers will soon face mandatory energy usage surveys by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) following bipartisan pressure to track consumption.
• The NAACP is suing xAI to block Elon Musk’s Colossus 2 project, alleging violations of the Clean Air Act due to unpermitted gas turbines.
• Geopolitical tensions have escalated with Iran’s IRGC threatening OpenAI’s planned Abu Dhabi data center (part of the $500 billion Stargate project) amid regional conflicts.
• Arm has revealed its first self-produced chip, the Arm AGI CPU, designed for AI inference, with Meta as the lead partner.
• Tech giants including Google, Meta, and Microsoft signed a "ratepayer protection pledge" with President Trump to address concerns over rising electricity rates driven by AI infrastructure expansion.