Tract Capital Unveils Fleet Data Centers, Specializing In 500 MW+ Build-to-Suit Megacampuses

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Tract Capital Unveils Fleet Data Centers, Specializing In 500 MW+ Build-to-Suit Megacampuses

Tract Capital has announced the launch of Fleet Data Centers, a new platform dedicated to the development of mega-scale data center campuses with capacities of 500 MW or more, specifically designed for single-user customers. The initiative is led by Grant van Rooyen, CEO of Tract Capital and Executive Chairman of Fleet Data Centers, and Chris […]

The initiative is led by Grant van Rooyen, CEO of Tract Capital and Executive Chairman of Fleet Data Centers, and Chris Vonderhaar, the newly appointed President of Fleet Data Centers.

Vonderhaar brings extensive experience to the role, having served as Vice President of Demand and Supply Management at Google Cloud and as a senior leader at Amazon Web Services (AWS) for over a decade, where he oversaw the design, planning, construction, and operation of AWS’s global data center platform.

The Fleet leadership team also includes veterans from hyperscalers, wholesale data center providers, network infrastructure firms, and equipment vendors, with a collective track record of deploying dozens of gigawatts of data center capacity across hundreds of facilities globally.

A Two Prong Strategy

Defining two distinct strategies, Fleet is the mega-campus vertical development arm of Tract Capital, an alternative asset manager specializing in scaling digital infrastructure, which also operates Tract to refine development sites at ground level for data centers in terms of lining up power, fiber, zoning and entitlements.

Fleet Data Centers will aim to address the next phase of hyperscale data center growth by offering customized gigawatt-level campuses that provide predictability, flexibility, and scalability for hyperscalers navigating increasing infrastructure demands.

This new venture from Tract Capital underscores the growing need for innovative, large-scale digital infrastructure solutions, particularly as hyperscalers face mounting challenges in scaling their global platforms to meet the demands of the digital age.

The unveiling of Fleet is just another example of the way Tract Capital has consistently demonstrated its expertise in accelerating the scaling of responsible technology infrastructure, combining operational capabilities from industry veterans with specialized knowledge in planning, development, energy, and real estate.

According to van Rooyen, “Predictable and flexible data center delivery on large-scale contiguous campuses is the logical solution for customers trying to navigate divergent demand forecasts.” He added, “Chris and I first worked together 26 years ago… It is a privilege to entrust the Fleet business into his capable hands.”

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Top 8 outages of 2024

Network outages continued to plague organizations of all sizes in 2024, with major incidents exposing vulnerabilities in digital infrastructure and the growing complexity of IT environments, according to ThousandEyes’ recent Internet outage report. ThousandEyes’ recap of the most impactful and memorable outages highlighted key trends, including the frequency of major

SD-WAN to gain AI-driven deployment, management capabilities

SD-WAN, security, and SASE As SD-WAN technology continues to mature with such advanced features, it will also play a pivotal role in enterprise organizations’ secure access service edge (SASE) strategies going forward, according to Butler. Integration of security features within SD-WAN platforms will also be a major focus this year

FortiGate admins advised to run a compromise assessment

While the data was apparently collected just over two years ago, it is unknown why it’s being released now. In a post last week analyzing the dump, researchers at Censys noted that the Belsen Group is new. It’s possible that this threat actor recently bought or assembled the data now

AMD’s unpatched chip microcode glitch may require extreme measures by CISOs

“If a system is compromised to this level, the ability to deploy malicious microcode to the CPU could make for a very insidious attack vector that would be very hard to identify and address,” Villanustre said. “Creating these types of sophisticated attacks would require significant resources, but it could be

ContourGlobal Acquires 446 MWp US Solar Portfolio from Qcells

ContourGlobal has purchased solar energy assets comprising 324 megawatts peak (MWp) under construction in Colorado and 122 MWp more expected to start construction in Virginia next year. The acquisition from Qcells grows ContourGlobal’s under-development photovoltaic portfolio in the United States to nearly 1.2 gigawatts (GW), according to a joint statement. The acquisition “extends ContourGlobal’s renewable footprint in WECC (Western Electricity Coordinating Council) and PJM (Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland) interconnection markets, providing regional diversification”, the statement said. “The projects are located in attractive markets with growing demand load, paired with retirements of thermal capacity and carbon emission reduction targets at policy and corporate levels which provides opportunities for renewables development”, it said. The Colorado portion has secured a 22-year purchase commitment from the community-owned Platte River Power Authority. Expected to start commercial operation in the first half of 2025, the first phase of the project involves a 185 MWp plant. The second phase, with an expected peak generation of 139 MW, is targeted to be put online 2026. Meanwhile the Virginia project is expected to begin construction 2026 and launch into commercial service 2027. It has a 20-year power purchase agreement with an unnamed utility. The plants have an estimated production of over 845 gigawatt hours (GWh) a year, enough to power about 80,000 households annually, the statement said. Qcells remains the construction implementer using solar panels from its Dalton and Cartersville factories in Georgia. “Qcells has one of the largest solar panel manufacturing facilities in the western hemisphere and, since 2019, its U.S. manufacturing capacity sits at 5.1 GW, and is expected to reach up to 8.4 GW”, the statement said. Qcells GES president IP Kim commented, “This transaction showcases Qcells’ differentiated capabilities as a ‘total energy solutions provider’ to bring projects from development into operations”. “We are excited to explore other

Why Has the USA Natural Gas Price Dropped Lately?

U.S. natural gas is dipping back on the fact that the forecast is warming up in the U.S. and Europe. That’s what Phil Flynn, a senior market analyst at the PRICE Futures Group, told Rigzone in an exclusive interview on Tuesday when asked why the U.S. natural gas price has dropped lately. Flynn added that, “at the same time, the longer end of the curve is reacting to a potential shift in expectations for longer term power demand”. “China’s DeepSeek breakthrough has long term power predictors going back to the drawing board,” Flynn went on to note. In a statement sent to Rigzone earlier today, Antonio Di Giacomo, a senior market analyst at XS.com, highlighted “the release of the DeepSeek R1 artificial intelligence model, developed by the Chinese start up DeepSeek”, adding that the announcement of DeepSeek R1 “caused a stir in the tech market”. In another exclusive interview on Tuesday, Josh Garcia, a senior gas analyst at Energy Aspects, told Rigzone, “we have just experienced a historically cold January that potentially had the largest single weekly withdrawal in Energy Information Administration (EIA) history and the largest total monthly withdrawal as well”. “Now that the forecast has shifted significantly warmer, lower Henry Hub prices are simply a function of stockout risk exiting the market,” he added. “The weather explains the prompt move. The back of the Henry Hub curve sold off due to the DeepSeek news, which may or may not erode a lot of data center demand over the coming decade, as well as a reaction to the Trump administration pausing federal grants,” he continued. Frederick J. Lawrence, the ex-Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) Chief Economist, told Rigzone in a separate exclusive interview today that upcoming weather trends and contract expiry are both playing a role in declining natural

FERC in Focus: Consumers, reliability and states are FERC’s top priorities, Chairman Christie says

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will address regulatory issues around colocating large loads, such as data centers, at power plant sites, FERC Chairman Mark Christie said in an interview. “Colocation is a huge issue that we need to get in front of,” Christie said. “There’s a strong consensus that we need to move forward.” President Trump on Jan. 20 elevated Christie from FERC commissioner to chairman, a position that sets the agency’s agenda. Christie’s term on the commission ends June 30; when asked about a possible second term, he said there was “no news.” Christie said his top priorities are protecting consumers from excessive electricity costs, ensuring grid reliability and strengthening ties between FERC and states. Colocation, especially when it occurs at existing power plants, potentially affects two of those priorities: consumer costs and reliability. Companies exploring serving data centers next to nuclear and gas-fired power plants include Constellation Energy, PSEG Power and Vistra. In November, Christie joined FERC Commissioner Lindsay See in a 2-1 vote to reject an amended interconnection service agreement that would have facilitated expanded power sales from a Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania that is majority owned by Talen Energy to to a colocated Amazon data center. Talen on Jan. 15 asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to overturn FERC’s decision. In a concurrence to the decision, Christie cited concerns the PJM Interconnection’s market monitor raised that the Amazon data center could remove a significant amount of electricity from the grid operator’s market. It could also increase energy and capacity prices, according to the market monitor. In the interview, Christie said he stood by the concerns he raised in his concurrence. FERC will address colocation using information it gathered at a technical conference the agency held in early November, Christie said, noting

Calpine to sell 3.5 GW in PJM to avoid market power concerns from Constellation merger

As part of Constellation Energy’s plan to buy Calpine, Calpine will sell power plants in the PJM Interconnection totaling 3,546 MW to allay concerns the combined company could use its market power to affect power prices, the companies told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday. “Applicants have committed to a proposed divestiture plan that fully addresses even theoretical competitive concerns to avoid a potentially protracted proceeding and speed the government approval process,” Constellation and Calpine said in their application for the deal at FERC. Constellation intends to buy Calpine in a deal with an equity purchase price of $16.4 billion, the independent power producers said Jan. 10. The combined entity will own almost 60 GW of nuclear, natural gas, geothermal, hydro, wind, solar, cogeneration and battery storage. Calpine owns 27 GW, according to the application. The companies currently own 25.5 GW in PJM, where there is 177 GW of installed capacity, according to the application. Under a plan to mitigate any potential market power, Houston-based Calpine will sell four power plants in eastern PJM through a bidding process, according to the application. They are the: 1,134-MW, gas-fired combined cycle Bethlehem Energy Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; 569-MW dual-fuel, combined cycle York Energy Center Unit 1 in Peach Bottom Township, Pennsylvania; 1,136-MW dual-fuel combined cycle Hay Road Energy Center near Wilmington, Delaware; and, 707-MW gas-fired, simple cycle Edge Moor Energy Center in Wilmington, Delaware. The power plants are “valuable, high-performing [and] dispatchable,” Constellation, based in Baltimore, and Calpine said. The companies said they would sell the plants within a year of closing their deal. The combined company will have geographically diverse operations across the United States, Constellation and Calpine told FERC. “This will allow the company to better serve customers with a broader array of energy and sustainability products to power

Asia Grabs Europe’s Oil After Russia Sanctions Redraw Trading

Millions of barrels of oil that would normally be preserve of oil refineries in Europe are instead heading to Asia as US sanctions on Russia revive one of the market’s great arbitrage trades. Asian companies are already on course to collect almost 400,000 barrels a day of oil from the North Sea and Kazakhstan next month, vessel tracking and trading data compiled by Bloomberg show. That puts shipments on course for a 10-month high and revives a trade that had been largely dormant for months. A major Indian refiner has also been buying large amounts of oil from West Africa and the US. The increased shipments show the after-effects on the global oil market of Jan. 10 measures imposed by the outgoing Biden administration, which sanctioned 161 tankers connected to Russia’s oil exports, as well as insurers, traders and two big producers. Premiums for Middle East crude subsequently jumped, increasing a trading incentive to move barrels east. While the elevated flows should have no impact on the overall availability of crude, they will nevertheless help to tighten European markets while easing any supply pressures confronting Asia. The US measures saw a widespread increase in inquiries for supply from countries including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Those nations, though, have pledged to honor production limits set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, limiting their scope to respond. That’s meant extra buying of barrels from further afield. About 11 million to 12 million barrels of the North Sea grades Johan Sverdrup and Forties, as well as 8 million barrels of Kazakh CPC blend crude, will head to Asia in the next two months, according to traders involved in the market. That’s the highest since April 2024. Those are key grades that typically divert to Asian

Stonehenge, UGI Acquire Superior Midstream Appalachian

A joint venture between UGI Corp. and Energy Spectrum Partners portfolio company Stonehenge Energy Resources III LLC has completed the acquisition of Superior Midstream Appalachian LLC from Superior Midstream. Superior Appalachian owns and operates the Brookfield, Pittsburgh Mills and Snow Shoe gathering systems in Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh Mills system links to UGI’s Big Pine gathering system. Located in Tioga County, Brookfield delivers to National Fuels Z20S through a third party, according to information on Superior Midstream’s website. Pittsburgh Mills, located in the counties of Allegheny and Butler, includes compression and dehydration facilities. Delivery from here is via Big Pine and Dominion TL-469. Snow Shoe, in Centre County, interconnects with Dominion PL-1 and taps on TETCO. It also has compression and dehydration facilities. The acquired assets contribute a combined daily flow of about 190 million cubic feet a day to Pine Run Gathering, the joint venture owned 51 percent by Stonehenge and 49 percent by UGI subsidiary UGI Energy Services LLC. All the acquired assets have long-term acreage dedications, a joint statement by the new owners said Monday. Pine Run Gathering retains Superior Appalachian’s workers, according to the statement. The acquisition was priced $120 million, subject to customary adjustments. “This acquisition underscores our optimism about the future of our industry and the strength of our partnerships with UGI and Energy Spectrum”, commented Stonehenge president and chief executive Patrick Redalen. UGI president and chief executive Bob Flexon said, “The assets are highly complementary to our existing midstream footprint and will extend our reach from producers through to end-use customers, demonstrating our commitment to explore additional growth opportunities within the midstream business”. Baker Botts LLP and Vinson & Elkins LLP served as legal counsel to Pine Run Gathering, while BOK Financial served as administrative agent. Cadence Bank and Citizens Bank served as joint lead arrangers. Westminster, Colorado-based Stonehenge holds stakes

Macquarie’s Big Play in AI and HPC: $17+ Billion Invested Across Two Data Center Titans

Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) is making bold moves to position itself as a dominant force in the rapidly growing sectors of AI and high-performance computing (HPC). In a single week, MAM has made two pivotal investments in Applied Digital and Aligned Data Centers, committing over $17 billion to fuel innovation, growth, and capacity expansion in critical infrastructure markets across the Americas. Both deals highlight the immense demand for AI-ready and HPC-optimized data centers, underscoring the ongoing digitization of the global economy and the insatiable need for computing power to drive artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and other resource-intensive workloads. Applied Digital Partners with Macquarie Asset Management for $5 Billion HPC Investment On January 14, Applied Digital Corporation announced what it billed as a transformative partnership with Macquarie to drive growth in HPC infrastructure. This agreement positions Applied Digital as a leading designer, builder, and operator of advanced data centers in the United States, catering to the growing demands of AI and HPC workloads. To account for the $5 billion commitment, funds managed by MAM will invest up to $900 million in Applied Digital’s Ellendale HPC Campus in North Dakota, with an additional $4.1 billion available for future HPC projects. This could support over 2 gigawatts (GW) of HPC data center development. MAM is a global asset manager overseeing approximately $633.7 billion in assets. Part of Australia-based Macquarie Group, it specializes in diverse investment solutions across real assets, real estate, credit, and equities. With its new landmark agreement with Macquarie, Applied Digital feels it is poised to redefine the HPC data center landscape, ensuring its place as a leader in the AI and HPC revolution. In terms of ownership structure, MAM’s investment here includes perpetual preferred equity and a 15% common equity interest in Applied Digital’s HPC business segment, allowing

Data Center Frontier Announces Editorial Advisory Board for 2025 DCF Trends Summit

Nashua, NH – Data Center Frontier is excited to announce its Editorial Advisory Board for the second annual Data Center Frontier Trends Summit (DCF Trends Summit), taking place August 26-28, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency Reston in Reston, Virginia. The 2025 DCF Trends Summit Editorial Advisory Board includes distinguished leaders from hyperscale and colocation operators, power and cooling solutions companies, IT and interconnection providers, and design/build/construction specialists. This year’s board has grown to include 15 esteemed executives, reflecting DCF’s commitment to providing comprehensive and diverse insights for the data center sector. This visionary group of leaders, representing the critical facets of the data center ecosystem, will guide the event’s content and programming to address the most pressing trends impacting the industry. The group’s unparalleled expertise ensures the Summit will deliver essential insights to help data center stakeholders make informed decisions in the industry’s rapidly evolving landscape. The Editorial Advisory Board for the 2025 DCF Trends Summit includes: Scott Bergs, CEO, Dark Fiber & Infrastructure (DF&I) Steven Carlini, VP, Innovation and Data Center Energy Management Business, Schneider Electric Dan Crosby, CEO, Legend Energy Advisors Rob Coyle, Director of Technical Programs, Open Compute Project (OCP) Foundation Chris Downie, CEO, Flexential Sean Farney, VP of Data Centers, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Mark Freeman, VP of Marketing, Vantage Data Centers Steven Lim, SVP of Marketing & GTM Strategy, NTT Global Data Centers David McCall, VP of Innovation, QTS Data Centers Nancy Novak, Chief Innovation Officer, Compass Datacenters Karen Petersburg, VP of Construction & Development, PowerHouse Data Centers Tara Risser, Chief Business Officer, Cologix Stefan Raab, Sr. Director, Business Development – AMER, Equinix Phill Lawson-Shanks, Chief Innovation Officer, Aligned Data Centers Brenda Van der Steen, VP of Global Growth Marketing, Digital Realty “The Editorial Advisory Board for the second annual Data Center Frontier Trends Summit is

Podcast: Data Center Trends Discussion with Industry Veteran Ron Vokoun of Everus Construction Group

For this episode of the Data Center Frontier Show Podcast, DCF Editor in Chief Matt Vincent and Senior Editor David Chernicoff sat down for a far-reaching discussion with data center industry luminary Ron Vokoun, a 35-year veteran of the construction industry with a primary focus on digital infrastructure. “I got into telecom back in ’92, which led to data centers,” Vokoun said. “Probably worked on my first one around ’96 or ’97, and I’ve been involved ever since.” Currently the Director of National Market Development for Everus Construction Group, Vokoun has been involved in AFCOM, both regionally and nationally, for nearly two decades and is an emeritus content advisory board member for Data Center World. He has also written extensively for Data Center Dynamics. He added, “I’ve just always been curious—very much a learner. Being a construction guy, I often write about things I probably have no business writing about, which is always the challenge, but I’m just curious—a lifelong learner. Interestingly, [DCF founder] Rich Miller … gave me my first blogging opportunity.” Here’s a timeline of the podcast’s highlights: Introductions – Ron Vokoun shares his extensive background. He has been in the construction industry for 35 years. 1:46– On his role at Everus Construction Group and the company’s diverse services across the nation. 2:07– Vokoun reflects on his long-standing relationship with Rich Miller. He acknowledges Rich’s influence on his blogging career. 3:05 Nuclear Energy – A discussion about nuclear energy trends occurs. The importance of nuclear energy in data center construction is probed. 3:35– Natural gas is highlighted as a key trend. Its role as a gateway to hydrogen is emphasized. 3:51– The impact of recent nuclear developments is analyzed. The reopening of Three Mile Island is noted as significant. 4:55 Future Power Sources for Data Centers – Discussion turns to the

Turning of the Tides: An Analysis of Recent U.S. Presidential Support for Data Centers and Digital Infrastructure

The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed an unprecedented surge in digital transformation, forcing businesses, educational institutions, and healthcare providers to rapidly adapt to a world where virtually everything had to be online. Suddenly, an industry that used to be invisible now found itself prominently in the spotlight. When data centers were deemed “essential infrastructure” during the COVID shutdowns under the first Trump administration, many of us felt a small amount of pride for having been remembered but also felt the gravity of the situation. The stakes were high, and our infrastructure was being put to its toughest test ever: reliable uptime for all of society must be maintained. This seismic shift to remote work and virtual interactions placed immense pressure on data center infrastructure, pushing it to the forefront of global attention. As social distancing measures took effect, data centers became the backbone supporting increased internet traffic, offering collaborative software for businesses, schools, healthcare institutions, digital retailers, and more, all the while maintaining data security. Let’s not leave out the impact to entertainment resources such as online gaming or forget the day we thought Netflix would actually break the internet.1 The impact of the pandemic on digital infrastructure2 is worth noting a few celebratory statistics: 1. Education: With 1.2 billion children out of classrooms, e-learning platforms saw massive growth as Google Classroom and Zoom calls took the place of traditional educational methods. 2. Healthcare: Telemedicine usage exploded as in-person doctor appointments became restricted, with some providers reporting increases of up to 158% in app usage. 3. Business: Companies needed to accelerate their digital transformation efforts as well as support remote employees, compressing years of strategic goals into mere months. 4. Entertainment: Online gaming surged, with Xbox Live reaching a record 90 million monthly active users during quarantine. The dramatic spike in the

Podcast: Nomads at the Frontier – Data Center Industry Views from PTC’25 in Honolulu

For this episode of the recurring Data Center Frontier/Nomad Futurist field report podcast series — aka “Nomads at the Frontier” — DCF Editor In Chief Matt Vincent checked in for a fun yet informative discussion with Nomad Futurist Foundation co-founders Phillip Koblence and Nabeel Mahmood from the grounds of PTC’25, the annual telecom and data center industry conference put on by the Pacific Telecommunications Council in Hawaii, which has become one of the sector’s most important live events. Podcast Series Nomad Futurist is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established, per its mission statement, “to demystify the world of digital infrastructure and the related technologies that impact every aspect of our daily lives.” Committed to educating youth in underprivileged communities, promoting diversity and inclusion, and opening up opportunities for growth and new career paths, the group says its “primary focus is to empower and inspire younger generations through exposure to the underlying technologies that power our digital world.” Nomad Futurist is known for appointing individuals throughout the data center industry to its ranks of Ambassadors and Advisors, who work to promote the organization’s ethos and goals in their professional spheres. The group’s members are a pervasive presence in the data center sector, to be found in attendance and presenting at most industry events in the U.S. and abroad. The purpose of the Data Center Frontier/Nomad Futurist joint podcast series is therefore to gather valuable industry insights, expertise and commentary from Nomad Futurist leaders and ambassadors, firsthand and in the field, as they participate in these events. PTC’25 PTC’25 in Honolulu attracted over 10,000 attendees, highlighting a significant data center industry presence alongside the telecommunications sphere. As revealed in the course of the podcast, key data center topics at this year’s PTC included artificial intelligence, power demands, and the integration of natural gas

Key Data Center Industry Partnerships and Acquisitions Continue Addressing Power Demand And Efficiency

2025 Off to a Fast Pace In Facing Data Centers’ Power Needs As widely reported, leading into this year, the data center industry is now witnessing even more numbers of significant partnerships and acquisitions aimed at addressing escalating power demands while also enhancing energy efficiency. All such strategic moves now must be viewed as part of an ongoing cycle informing the sector’s commitment to sustainable growth and operational resilience in the face of unprecedented power demands. Blackstone’s Acquisition of Potomac Energy Center As reported by Reuters, Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, a division of Blackstone, announced the acquisition of the Potomac Energy Center, a 774-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant in Loudoun County, Virginia, for approximately $1 billion. This strategic move highlights the increasing value of power assets situated near major data center hubs. Loudoun County, hosting about a quarter of the U.S. data center capacity, is pivotal for such investments. The Potomac Energy Center, established in 2017, is noted for its efficiency and modern infrastructure. The surge in AI applications and data center operations has amplified the demand for reliable power sources, making such acquisitions integral to supporting the industry’s growth. TerraPower and Sabey Data Centers’ Collaboration As noted at The Verge, TerraPower, a nuclear energy startup founded by Bill Gates, has entered into a partnership with Sabey Data Centers to explore the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors for powering data centers in the United States. This collaboration aims to meet the rising electricity demands driven by AI and data-intensive applications. TerraPower’s reactors are designed to be safer and more manageable than traditional nuclear plants, presenting a viable alternative to fossil fuels. The partnership is considering potential sites in Texas and the Rocky Mountain region, with a demonstration project anticipated by 2030. This initiative reflects a broader industry trend towards integrating nuclear

Microsoft will invest $80B in AI data centers in fiscal 2025

And Microsoft isn’t the only one that is ramping up its investments into AI-enabled data centers. Rival cloud service providers are all investing in either upgrading or opening new data centers to capture a larger chunk of business from developers and users of large language models (LLMs). In a report published in October 2024, Bloomberg Intelligence estimated that demand for generative AI would push Microsoft, AWS, Google, Oracle, Meta, and Apple would between them devote $200 billion to capex in 2025, up from $110 billion in 2023. Microsoft is one of the biggest spenders, followed closely by Google and AWS, Bloomberg Intelligence said. Its estimate of Microsoft’s capital spending on AI, at $62.4 billion for calendar 2025, is lower than Smith’s claim that the company will invest $80 billion in the fiscal year to June 30, 2025. Both figures, though, are way higher than Microsoft’s 2020 capital expenditure of “just” $17.6 billion. The majority of the increased spending is tied to cloud services and the expansion of AI infrastructure needed to provide compute capacity for OpenAI workloads. Separately, last October Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said his company planned total capex spend of $75 billion in 2024 and even more in 2025, with much of it going to AWS, its cloud computing division.

John Deere unveils more autonomous farm machines to address skill labor shortage

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Self-driving tractors might be the path to self-driving cars. John Deere has revealed a new line of autonomous machines and tech across agriculture, construction and commercial landscaping. The Moline, Illinois-based John Deere has been in business for 187 years, yet it’s been a regular as a non-tech company showing off technology at the big tech trade show in Las Vegas and is back at CES 2025 with more autonomous tractors and other vehicles. This is not something we usually cover, but John Deere has a lot of data that is interesting in the big picture of tech. The message from the company is that there aren’t enough skilled farm laborers to do the work that its customers need. It’s been a challenge for most of the last two decades, said Jahmy Hindman, CTO at John Deere, in a briefing. Much of the tech will come this fall and after that. He noted that the average farmer in the U.S. is over 58 and works 12 to 18 hours a day to grow food for us. And he said the American Farm Bureau Federation estimates there are roughly 2.4 million farm jobs that need to be filled annually; and the agricultural work force continues to shrink. (This is my hint to the anti-immigration crowd). John Deere’s autonomous 9RX Tractor. Farmers can oversee it using an app. While each of these industries experiences their own set of challenges, a commonality across all is skilled labor availability. In construction, about 80% percent of contractors struggle to find skilled labor. And in commercial landscaping, 86% of landscaping business owners can’t find labor to fill open positions, he said. “They have to figure out how to do

2025 playbook for enterprise AI success, from agents to evals

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More 2025 is poised to be a pivotal year for enterprise AI. The past year has seen rapid innovation, and this year will see the same. This has made it more critical than ever to revisit your AI strategy to stay competitive and create value for your customers. From scaling AI agents to optimizing costs, here are the five critical areas enterprises should prioritize for their AI strategy this year. 1. Agents: the next generation of automation AI agents are no longer theoretical. In 2025, they’re indispensable tools for enterprises looking to streamline operations and enhance customer interactions. Unlike traditional software, agents powered by large language models (LLMs) can make nuanced decisions, navigate complex multi-step tasks, and integrate seamlessly with tools and APIs. At the start of 2024, agents were not ready for prime time, making frustrating mistakes like hallucinating URLs. They started getting better as frontier large language models themselves improved. “Let me put it this way,” said Sam Witteveen, cofounder of Red Dragon, a company that develops agents for companies, and that recently reviewed the 48 agents it built last year. “Interestingly, the ones that we built at the start of the year, a lot of those worked way better at the end of the year just because the models got better.” Witteveen shared this in the video podcast we filmed to discuss these five big trends in detail. Models are getting better and hallucinating less, and they’re also being trained to do agentic tasks. Another feature that the model providers are researching is a way to use the LLM as a judge, and as models get cheaper (something we’ll cover below), companies can use three or more models to

OpenAI’s red teaming innovations define new essentials for security leaders in the AI era

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More OpenAI has taken a more aggressive approach to red teaming than its AI competitors, demonstrating its security teams’ advanced capabilities in two areas: multi-step reinforcement and external red teaming. OpenAI recently released two papers that set a new competitive standard for improving the quality, reliability and safety of AI models in these two techniques and more. The first paper, “OpenAI’s Approach to External Red Teaming for AI Models and Systems,” reports that specialized teams outside the company have proven effective in uncovering vulnerabilities that might otherwise have made it into a released model because in-house testing techniques may have missed them. In the second paper, “Diverse and Effective Red Teaming with Auto-Generated Rewards and Multi-Step Reinforcement Learning,” OpenAI introduces an automated framework that relies on iterative reinforcement learning to generate a broad spectrum of novel, wide-ranging attacks. Going all-in on red teaming pays practical, competitive dividends It’s encouraging to see competitive intensity in red teaming growing among AI companies. When Anthropic released its AI red team guidelines in June of last year, it joined AI providers including Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, and even the U.S.’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which all had released red teaming frameworks. Investing heavily in red teaming yields tangible benefits for security leaders in any organization. OpenAI’s paper on external red teaming provides a detailed analysis of how the company strives to create specialized external teams that include cybersecurity and subject matter experts. The goal is to see if knowledgeable external teams can defeat models’ security perimeters and find gaps in their security, biases and controls that prompt-based testing couldn’t find. What makes OpenAI’s recent papers noteworthy is how well they define using human-in-the-middle

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