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A protester in Provo, Utah on Oct. 7.Photo by Charles-McClintock Wilson/NurPhoto via Getty

How to Get Your Data Center Approved? Behave Like An Oil Company

By Steve LeVine · Oct 11, 2026 2:01pm PDT · 1 comment

AI data centers might be encountering a lot less community pushback in the U.S. if their developers thought of their projects like oilfields and spread the expected coming windfall much more freely, says Brian Janous, co-founder of Cloverleaf Infrastructure. AI data centers might be encountering a lot less community pushback in the U.S. if their...

Photo via Getty

AI Infrastructure

Why Amazon and Microsoft Are Taking Communities’ Side Against Utilities

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Sep 13, 2026 7:00am PDT

Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle and other AI data center developers are sweetening financial offers to municipalities and regulators to gain approval for new facilities. They’re also getting smarter about standing up for consumers against utilities that have proposed to make the public pay for some of the cost of handling new electricity loads.The... Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle and other AI data center developers are sweetening financial offers to...

The Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Texas. Photo by Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

AI Infrastructure

Desperation to Get Data Centers Online Is Reshaping Companies' Bargaining Power

By Phoebe Liu · Sep 7, 2026 8:30am PDT

No two contracts for AI data center buildouts look quite the same. It’s a matchmaking process on every level involving a range of companies: those that secure land and power, those that build and operate data centers, the financiers that lend money for the projects, and the customers—including major cloud providers such as Microsoft and Google.... No two contracts for AI data center buildouts look quite the same. It’s a matchmaking process on...

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and a GE Vernova gas turbine part. Photos via Getty Images.

Exclusive: SpaceX Lays Groundwork For Turbine-Blade Factory to Solve Data Center Power Crunch

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Aug 29, 2026 11:21am PDT · 4 comments

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and a GE Vernova gas turbine part. Photos via Getty Images.

AI Infrastructure

Exclusive: SpaceX Lays Groundwork For Turbine-Blade Factory to Solve Data Center Power Crunch

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Aug 29, 2026 11:21am PDT · 4 comments

Elon Musk intends to bypass the power supply chain for AI data centers in a way others assumed was impossible, by making highly complex components himself. It’s a move no one else has been bold enough to attempt. Elon Musk intends to bypass the power supply chain for AI data centers in a way others assumed...

Panthalassa Ocean-2, a prototype data center node off the coast of Washington state. YouTube.

Ocean-Powered Data Center Startup Set to Double Valuation to $2 Billion

By Julia Hornstein · Aug 6, 2026 11:06am PDT

AI data centers need boatloads of power, a need that’s set off a flood of investment into startups harnessing nuclear or solar energy to run the servers. Now one startup is raising money to power AI from a different source: the ocean. Panthalassa, a 10-year old startup making technology that aims to generate electricity from the movement of... AI data centers need boatloads of power, a need that’s set off a flood of investment into...

Art by Mike Sullivan; Getty Images.

The Information Finance

Demand Heats Up For Spend Now, Lease Later AI Financing

By Dakin Campbell · Jul 29, 2026 9:41am PDT

In the financial model that governs the AI data center build-out, one of the most important questions is who the tenant will be. The goal is to ensure that demand from big cloud firms and AI labs for computing capacity—and their ability to pay—will line up with supply as trillions of dollars pour into data centers and related... In the financial model that governs the AI data center build-out, one of the most important...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Artificial Intelligence

Microsoft Opens a New Front in the Fight Over Data for AI Agents

By Kevin McLaughlin · May 22, 2026 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Microsoft has opened a new front in the AI data wars, blocking partners from connecting their data management tools to a popular product as it tries to defend its business software strength in the era of AI agents. The friction centers on Power BI, a Microsoft product nearly all Fortune 500 firms use to analyze data about their operations in... Microsoft has opened a new front in the AI data wars, blocking partners from connecting their...

Art by Clark Miller

CIA Venture Arm Invests in Data Center Developer Prometheus Hyperscale

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Mar 20, 2026 3:33pm PDT

Art by Clark Miller

CIA Venture Arm Invests in Data Center Developer Prometheus Hyperscale

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Mar 20, 2026 3:33pm PDT

The Central Intelligence Agency’s venture investment arm, IQT, has invested in AI data center company Prometheus Hyperscale, which is developing campuses in Wyoming and Texas, the company said. Wyoming has long been a location for sensitive military assets, and the CIA’s investment suggests Prometheus could potentially run national security... The Central Intelligence Agency’s venture investment arm, IQT, has invested in AI data center...

Artwork by Clark Miller

From Vision to Constraints: The Lessons of OpenAI’s Stargate Buildout

By The Information Staff · Feb 25, 2026 1:49pm PST · 1 comment

OpenAI’s ambitions to build some of the world’s largest AI data centers have evolved significantly over the past two years, offering a revealing look at how difficult it is to translate demand for compute into physical infrastructure. Shifts in partners, scope and timelines highlight the financial and operational trade-offs that come with... OpenAI’s ambitions to build some of the world’s largest AI data centers have evolved...

Art by Clark Miller

Inside OpenAI’s Scramble to Get Computing Power After Stargate Stalled

By Anissa Gardizy · Feb 22, 2026 11:00am PST · 4 comments

When President Donald Trump announced the $500 billion Stargate AI data center project in January 2025, the three companies charged with developing it promised to move with lightning speed, spending $100 billion almost immediately to start building 10 gigawatts of computing capacity. More than a year later, the Stargate joint venture has not... When President Donald Trump announced the $500 billion Stargate AI data center project in January...

SES AI CEO Qichao Hu. Photo: Courtesy SES AI.

The Electric: Rebranded as Defense Manufacturers, Next-Gen Battery Startups Are Finally Earning Revenue

By Steve LeVine · Dec 29, 2025 4:30am PST

Drones, AI data centers and the power grid are almost all anyone in the battery industry can talk about. Drones, AI data centers and the power grid are almost all anyone in the battery industry can talk...

Oracle co-CEO Clay Magouyrk. Getty Images

Oracle’s Costly AI Expansion Turns Off Wall Street

By Martin Peers · Dec 10, 2025 5:00pm PST

Oracle co-CEO Clay Magouyrk. Getty Images

Oracle’s Costly AI Expansion Turns Off Wall Street

By Martin Peers · Dec 10, 2025 5:00pm PST

The costs of Oracle’s AI data center expansion is becoming clear—and Wall Street isn’t happy. The software and cloud firm, which until recently was a solid moneymaker, said Wednesday it burned through $10 billion in cash in the November quarter thanks to a big ramp-up in capital expenditures on AI-focused data centers for its cloud business.... The costs of Oracle’s AI data center expansion is becoming clear—and Wall Street isn’t happy. The...

Art by Shutterstock

Pro Weekly: Behind the Explosion of Generative AI Startups

By Akash Pasricha · Nov 3, 2023 8:00am PDT

Time flies! We launched our Generative AI Database five months ago, and this week we added our 100th (and 101st) companies, with inside reporting about who’s backing each company, how much revenue the company has generated, the machine-learning model it uses and the cloud providers it relies on.The numbers make clear just how much investors are... Time flies! We launched our Generative AI Database five months ago, and this week we added our...

Alexander Kvamme, co-founder and CEO of Pathlight. Photo courtesy of Pathlight.

Pro Weekly: Generative AI Startups Hedge Their Bets

By Akash Pasricha · Oct 6, 2023 8:00am PDT

Our Generative AI database includes 78 companies, more than half of which are developing their own machine-learning models. The others rely on models from OpenAI or rivals such as Anthropic and Cohere. But a growing number of companies in our database use more than one machine-learning provider, including Pathlight, which uses five.San Francisco... Our Generative AI database includes 78 companies, more than half of which are developing their...

Photo by Shutterstock

Pro Weekly: The Most Popular Clouds for Generative AI Startups

By Akash Pasricha · Sep 15, 2023 8:00am PDT

Since we last wrote in detail about our Generative AI Database, we’ve added 14 companies to our catalog, including text-to-presentation startup Tome and voice-generator startup Resemble AI. A tie binds several of these firms: Ten use Amazon as their cloud computing provider. Since we last wrote in detail about our Generative AI Database, we’ve added 14 companies to our...

The skyline of Kuwait City. A Kuwaiti royal family member is reportedly backing a stealth cloud startup. Photo by Getty.

AI Agenda: The Mysterious AI Data-Center Startup Hiring From AWS, Azure, Meta

By Anissa Gardizy · Jul 27, 2023 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

The skyline of Kuwait City. A Kuwaiti royal family member is reportedly backing a stealth cloud startup. Photo by Getty.

AI Agenda: The Mysterious AI Data-Center Startup Hiring From AWS, Azure, Meta

By Anissa Gardizy · Jul 27, 2023 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Save the Date: Next Thursday, Aug. 3, join Aidan Gomez, co-founder and CEO of Cohere, an OpenAI rival valued at $2 billion, and Edo Liberty, founder and CEO of Pinecone, one of the hottest young AI infrastructure startups, for a live audio chat with subscribers. The CEOs will talk to AI Agenda author Stephanie Palazzolo and take your questions... Save the Date: Next Thursday, Aug. 3, join Aidan Gomez, co-founder and CEO of Cohere, an OpenAI...

Photo by Unsplash.

Pro Weekly: Google's Influence on Generative AI

By Kalley Huang · Jul 14, 2023 8:00am PDT

Welcome back!Since we last wrote about The Information’s Generative AI Database, we added eight companies. We now track 55 companies building generative artificial intelligence technology or services. At least 10 of these companies have at least one founder who previously worked at Alphabet, including at its AI labs, Google Brain and... Welcome back!Since we last wrote about The Information’s Generative AI Database, we added eight...

Photo by Getty.

Pro Weekly: More Generative AI Companies for Our Database

By Kalley Huang · Jun 9, 2023 8:00am PDT

Welcome back!This week, we added seven companies to The Information’s Generative AI Database, which now includes 46 companies building generative artificial intelligence technology or services. Six of the new entrants develop their own AI models, which ingest large amounts of data to learn patterns, even though building and training these models... Welcome back!This week, we added seven companies to The Information’s Generative AI Database,...

PRO

Introducing The Information’s Generative AI Database

By Kalley Huang · Jun 1, 2023 9:54am PDT

OpenAI’s ChatGPT launched six months ago, igniting a boom in generative artificial intelligence. Since then, all manner of startups have emerged, building technology to compete with ChatGPT and developing services that use generative AI. Despite an otherwise cool funding environment, investors are jockeying to join the action. The most... OpenAI’s ChatGPT launched six months ago, igniting a boom in generative artificial...