2 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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More from All the latest updates on AI data centers

Justine Calma
Justine Calma
Lake Tahoe has to look for a new power source as data center demand soars.

Facing “unprecedented times,” NV Energy has decided to stop selling power to a small power utility serving 49,000 customers in Lake Tahoe, CalMatters reports. Data center requests are driving a tripling of expected peak power demand, according to NV Energy.

Elon Musk is merging SpaceX and xAI to build data centers in space — or so he says

SpaceX is profitable, while xAI is burning about $1 billion a month. Is this another case of Musk bailing out himself?

Andrew J. Hawkins
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Microsoft gets approval to build 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.

The data centers will be built on land that used to be owned by Foxconn.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Microsoft wants to build 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.

Leaders of the village approved plans for the data centers on Wednesday, FOX6 News Milwaukee reports, and the Mount Pleasant Village Board could give final approval “as soon as Monday night.” The data centers would go on land formerly owned by Foxconn.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
ICE hits Meta data center project.

Two individuals who were driving dump trucks to the construction site in Richland Parish, Louisiana, were arrested on Wednesday. Local law enforcement says ICE “did not enter the Meta site at any time,” but told Bloomberg that agents were sweeping for identification of workers en route to the site.

Justine Calma
Justine Calma
Data center projects are dropping like flies.

At least 25 were canceled last year in the US, according to an analysis by Heatmap Pro. It’s a significant increase from 2024 as local opposition to energy and water-intensive data centers grows across the nation.

Elissa Welle
Elissa Welle
That’s a lot of money for just one data center job.

In Virginia, environmental group Food & Water Watch found that one permanent data center job is created for every $13 million invested. It estimates that data centers account for 0.01 percent of US jobs, but 4.4 percent of electricity consumption, and is petitioning Congress to end all new data center construction.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Alphabet is acquiring a data center company.

Google’s parent company will acquire Intersect for $4.75 billion to “enable more data center and generation capacity to come online, faster, while accelerating energy development and innovation,” according to a press release. Intersect will “remain separate from Alphabet and Google.”

Billionaires want data centers everywhere, including space

Astronomers and environmental scientists are skeptical.

Elissa Welle