Overview
- Microsoft’s Satya Nadella said the company has advanced GPUs in inventory that cannot be deployed because there are no powered data‑center shells ready to host them.
- Amazon Web Services paused multiple new colocation leases this spring and Microsoft halted select U.S. AI projects including a $1 billion Ohio site, while Google arranged to defer non‑urgent computing during grid peaks.
- Grid strain is mounting, with Ireland drawing an estimated 21% of its electricity from data centers and the PJM U.S. power market revamping planning to handle surging load.
- Utilities and energy providers including Constellation, Vistra, NextEra, and Brookfield Renewable are pursuing 24/7 power contracts, and nuclear developers such as Oklo and NuScale are drawing interest to fill firm demand.
- Despite strong demand for Nvidia accelerators, some customers have postponed Blackwell rack deployments due to heat and manufacturing issues, and forecasts project data‑center electricity use climbing roughly 50% by 2030 globally and 50% by 2027 in the U.S.