Eighteen countries, including the UK, Canada, Sweden, France, Germany, Japan, and South Korea, are exempted from the AI export caps. The Biden administration had previously banned the export of some powerful AI chips to China, Russia, and other adversaries in rules from 2022 and 2023. But other countries friendly to the US, including Mexico, Israel, India, and Saudi Arabia, would be subject to the quotas. The export limits would take effect 120 days from the Jan. 13 order, and it’s unclear whether the incoming Trump administration will amend or rewrite the rule, although Trump has targeted China as a primary economic competitor of the US. The cost of AI In addition to cutting off most of the world from large AI chip purchases, the rule will force countries such as China and Russia to pump up their own AI capabilities, ultimately reducing US AI leadership, claims Aible’s Sengupta.

Cloud training for AI models Uptime believes that most AI models will be trained in the cloud rather than on dedicated enterprise infrastructure, as cloud services provide a more cost-effective way to fine-tune foundation models for specific use cases. The incremental training required to fine-tune a foundation model can be done cost-effectively on cloud platforms without the need for a large, expensive on-premises cluster. Enterprises can leverage on-demand cloud resources to customize the foundation model as needed, without investing the capital and operational costs of dedicated hardware. “Because fine-tuning requires only a relatively small amount of training, for many it just wouldn’t make sense to buy a huge, expensive dedicated AI cluster for this purpose. The foundation model, which has already been trained by someone else, has taken the burden of most of the training away from us,” said Dr. Owen Rogers, research director for cloud computing at Uptime. “Instead, we could just use on-demand cloud services to tweak the foundation model for our needs, only paying for the resources we need for as long as we need them.” Data center collaboration with utilities Uptime expects new and expanded data center developers will be asked to provide or store power to support grids. That means data centers will need to actively collaborate with utilities to manage grid demand and stability, potentially shedding load or using local power sources during peak times. Uptime forecasts that data center operators “running non-latency-sensitive workloads, such as specific AI training tasks, could be financially incentivized or mandated to reduce power use when required.” “The context for all of this is that the [power] grid, even if there were no data centers, would have a problem meeting demand over time. They’re having to invest at a rate that is historically off the charts. It’s not just

The UK government has presently announced its comprehensive “AI Opportunities Action Plan,” positioning artificial intelligence as a cornerstone for economic growth and public service transformation over the next decade. The bold initiative, spearheaded by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, aims to make Britain a global leader in AI development and adoption, with significant implications for the data center industry.   Britain’s ambitious AI roadmap taps into the growing synergy between artificial intelligence and data infrastructure. With dedicated AI Growth Zones and a focus on sustainable energy, the UK is setting the stage for an AI-driven economy that aligns with the next generation of data center demands. The data center industry should watch these developments closely, as they signal opportunities for long-term growth in a rapidly evolving market.   AI Infrastructure Prioritization Meets Major Private Sector Investments    The UK government plan introduces “AI Growth Zones,” areas designed to streamline planning approvals for data centers and enhance access to energy infrastructure.  These zones will focus on de-industrialized regions, providing a dual benefit of revitalizing local economies and accelerating the rollout of AI infrastructure. The first such zone will be established in Culham, Oxfordshire, leveraging local expertise in sustainable energy research, including fusion technologies.   Leading tech firms, including Vantage Data Centers, Nscale, and Kyndryl, have committed £14 billion to AI infrastructure development under the plan, creating 13,250 jobs across the UK, according to a press release.  Vantage Data Centers alone plans to invest over £12 billion to establish one of Europe’s largest campuses in Wales and additional facilities nationwide, generating 11,500 jobs.   Plan Harnesses AI for Both Public, Private Sectors  A significant component of the plan is a proposed 20x increase in public compute capacity by 2030, starting with the development of a new supercomputer to support AI innovation. Alongside this supercharging of

Prologis, among the global leaders in industrial real estate, has taken another major step into the data center market with the sale of a newly developed turnkey data center in Illinois. With the deal for the sale announced last December, partnering with Skybox Datacenters, Prologis had initially converted one of its existing warehouses into a 32 megawatt (MW) facility, demonstrating as far back as 2021 the growing appeal of adaptive reuse for digital infrastructure. As reported by Data Center Dynamics’ Dan Swinhoe: “Skybox said the facility was located in the Elk Grove village area of the city. Images shared by Skybox and Prologis suggest it was Chicago 1, the data center the two companies completed in early 2022 […] DCD reached out for more information. Prologis confirmed Chicago 1 has been sold; the powered shell has been completed, with the turnkey development is in process. The facility spans 190,000 sq ft on a ten-acre site.” The converted facility’s buyer, HMC Capital, sees this acquisition as a marquee asset for its newly launched DigiCo Infrastructure REIT, which targets high-quality data center investments across the United States and Australia. The deal highlights the rapid evolution of Prologis’ data center strategy and the increasing convergence of industrial real estate and digital infrastructure. Prologis’ Growing Presence in Data Centers Prologis is no stranger to data center development, having been featured in prior DCF coverage for its strategic moves into the rapidly burgeoning sector. The Illinois project reflects Prologis’ focus on unlocking higher-value uses for its vast portfolio of warehouses.  According to Dan Letter, President of Prologis, “Warehouse conversions in key markets offer a compelling growth opportunity while delivering outsized returns to our investors and meeting customer demand for digital infrastructure.” To support this strategy, Prologis has aggressively scaled its power procurement capabilities, securing 1.6

Issued this week, President Biden’s “Executive Order on Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure” represents a transformative policy moment for the data center industry if implemented, underscoring the convergence of two equally transformative forces: the AI revolution and the clean energy transition. For the data center industry, the policy marks a clear shift toward a strategic, mission-critical role in national security and economic resilience. The Executive Order’s vision also aligns with definitively emerging trends in the contemporary data center industry, particularly the pivot toward sustainability and energy efficiency. The policy’s emphasis on clean energy infrastructure—whether through nuclear, geothermal, or long-duration storage—addresses the industry’s growing focus on renewable power. However, executing this vision will require massive investments in grid modernization and streamlined permitting processes, which have historically been bottlenecks for large-scale infrastructure projects. The directive to align new AI electricity demands with clean energy sources puts a spotlight on the challenges posed by AI’s computational intensity. Hyperscale operators and colocation providers will need to redouble their rethinking of power procurement strategies, with a renewed focus on distributed energy resources and partnerships with utility providers. Additionally, the Executive Order’s call for high labor standards and community engagement reflects growing federal acknowledgment of data centers’ societal footprint. While the industry has made strides in community outreach, such measures ensure data center developments are not just sustainable but also equitable, creating jobs and fostering goodwill in the communities where they operate. For what it explicitly defines as “frontier AI data centers,” the Executive Order also seeks to provide a regulatory framework to streamline development, while ensuring robust cybersecurity and supply chain integrity. Importantly though, balancing the urgency of AI infrastructure development with the complex demands of energy transition and national security will require unprecedented levels of public-private collaboration. The Executive Order apparently isn’t just

MERLIN Properties and Edged Energy to Build Gigawatt-Scale AI Data Center Campuses in Spain To wit, in a furtherance of its groundbreaking partnership in Europe, MERLIN Properties and Edged Energy are collaborating with the regional government of Extremadura, Spain, to establish two state-of-the-art data center campuses. These facilities, designed to support the burgeoning demand for generative AI and advanced computing, promise to set new standards for sustainability and efficiency in the data center industry. A Vision for Sustainability and Growth in Extremadura The data centers, located in Navalmoral de la Mata (Cáceres Province) and Valdecaballeros (Badajoz Province), will each deliver up to 1 GW of IT capacity. Featuring industry-leading innovations, the campuses will boast an average PUE of 1.15, ensuring ultra-efficient operations. Edged says the project represents a significant leap forward in green data center development, aligning with Extremadura’s commitment to leveraging innovation and technology for economic and environmental progress. “Our mission is to create data centers for positive impact, and we are proud to contribute to the Iberian Peninsula’s growing digital economy,” said Jakob Carnemark, CEO of Edged Energy. “The region offers unprecedented fiber connectivity with massive submarine connections worldwide and boasts reliable, abundant, and low-cost renewable energy.” Harnessing Renewable Energy and Cutting-Edge Cooling Technology The Extremadura facilities will operate entirely on electricity from renewable sources, capitalizing on the region’s vast sustainable energy capacity. Extremadura currently produces six times the electricity it consumes, making it an ideal location for gigawatt-scale data centers. The project’s waterless cooling system, ThermalWorks, will enable the facilities to operate without consuming water, a critical innovation for such regions with limited water resources. The system will support ultra-high rack densities of up to 200kW per rack to accommodate the advanced computing demands of AI workloads. Strategic Location and Connectivity The Iberian Peninsula is rapidly becoming