Big Tech’s big AI buildout will not end until someone stops it
After four of the biggest competitors in the AI race held quarterly earnings calls late last month, two things are clear: Big Tech is not done spending record amounts on the AI data center buildout, and the AI data center buildout is not any closer to yielding its promised returns. A third thing is also starting to become clear - Big Tech will not be slowing down, at least not on its own. Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta told investors they're planning to spend at least $7
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Big Tech companies are spending record amounts on data center construction to build artificial intelligence infrastructure, with four major competitors committing at least $720 billion this year alone and over $1 trillion in coming years. Despite these enormous investments, the companies have not yet generated significant profits from AI, and their spending is beginning to concern Wall Street investors who are waiting to see actual financial returns. The buildout will likely continue without external intervention, as the companies frame it as a critical competitive opportunity that cannot be delayed. Recent election results favoring data center restrictions may introduce some uncertainty into these spending plans, though this has not yet slowed Big Tech's commitment to further expansion.
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Data centers lost the midterms
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Also reported by Wired AI and TechCrunch
Crusoe sells troubled Wyoming data center project to Google
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Protesters break into Microsoft data center site in Amsterdam
Members of the action group Geef Tegengas put a banner on a crane during a protest. | Image: Getty Images Protesters have broken into a construction site of a new Microsoft data center in Amsterdam this morning. Members of the Geef Tegengas group helped organize the protest against the construction of three 85-meter data center towers in the outskirts of Amsterdam. Reuters reports that around 100 people made it into the construction site, with some scaling a crane to place a "fu