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Projected AI Data Center Workload Shift (2025-2030)
The expected growth in inference computing versus training workloads by 2030.
Primary Sources
Midwest, Texas See Boom in Data Center Development - Business Insider
Construction for a Meta data center campus is underway in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Joe Timmerman/Wisconsin Watch via Getty Images 2026-04-14T09:00:06.113Z Northern Virginia has long been the center of the data center industry. That's changing as the biggest facilities shift inland in search of readily available power. Texas and the Midwest are becoming key hubs, according to a new Synergy report. The AI boom is redrawing America's data center map. Texas and the Midwest are emerging as the key hubs for the largest and most powerful data centers for cloud and AI computing, shifting the industry's nexus away from Northern Virginia, a new report shows.The two regions accounted for one-third of hyperscale data center capacity at the end of 2025, according to Synergy, an IT market research firm.The two regions will account for 53% of new hyperscale data center capacity coming online in the next few years.Northern Virginia has long served as Big Tech's primary data center hub. Power availability is driving the shift inland, the report said. The companies building the largest and most powerful facilities are seeking land with readily available electricity. The sprawling data center buildout in the US is straining the nation's aging power grid and fueling concerns over rising electricity costs.Texas leads the country in new data center development by a wide margin, though the Midwest is quickly growing in importance, the report said.Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, and Missouri are fueling Midwestern growth.Wisconsin has attracted major data center projects from Meta, OpenAI, and Microsoft. Michigan houses an Oracle-backed Stargate data center. Amazon and Google are building massive data center campuses in Northern Indiana.Ohio is already one of the biggest data center markets in the country. Data centers in the state have received generous tax incentives, including 30-year property tax abatements in some cases.One factor in Texas's data center boom is the BYOP (bring your own power) phenomenon. A number of data centers in the state, including the Stargate campus in Abilene, are avoiding the grid altogether and building their own on-site power plants, fueled mostly with natural gas.Have a tip for this reporter? Contact Ellen Thomas at ethomas@insider.com or on Signal at 929-524-6964.
AI Data Centers Are Taking Over Texas:
The Photograph is courtesy of Cash Macanaya and Unsplash.Texas, which has reliably voted for and supported US President Donald Trump in every national election cycle since 2015, might soon receive a reward for its state-wide loyalty to the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) by becoming the region with the most artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, both nationally and globally.An overhead drone camera view of the “Element Critical” AI data center, located in the Houston suburb of Katy, Texas. The image is courtesy of Getty Images.Several major national and international energy companies, such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, Diamondback Energy, and Pacifico Energy, have announced plans to develop AI data centers in Texas. The danger is that AI data centers consume so much energy and natural resources that new industrial power projects will further strain a state already struggling with an energy crisis and multiple environmental resource issues.**********Texas Governor Greg Abbott in 2025. The photograph is courtesy of LM Otero and the Associated Press (AP).For over thirty years, Texas residents have endured severe environmental degradation and drastic depletion of the state’s natural resources, driven by aggressive deregulation policies implemented by successive Republican Party (GOP) state executives and legislators.Three-term Texas Governor Greg Abbott– a pro-MAGA Republican who has been in office since January 2015–rejects climate change science and has sued the federal government numerous times to block environmental regulations while serving as Texas Attorney General from 2002 to 2015. Governor Abbott was preceded in office by two other Republicans, Rick Perry (2000–2015) and George W. Bush (1995–2000).All three men implemented extreme pro-business, anti-regulation policies that led to several environmental disasters and energy crises in the state, laying the political foundation for the looming AI data center disaster in Texas.**********A skyline view of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan region during winter storm “URI” in February 2021. The photograph is courtesy of Fox 4 News, Dallas-Fort Worth.In February 2021, energy deregulation policies enacted by Governor Abbott and the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature left over 4.5 million homes and businesses without power, resulting in at least 702 deaths among Texas residents during a severe winter storm that swept across the state five years ago.Despite this energy crisis and other environmentally driv...
How much are tech companies spending on data center infrastructure?
Microsoft has committed over $80 billion in capital expenditures for fiscal year 2026. Meta is projected to spend $80-100 billion in 2026, up from $70 billion in 2025. Alphabet has announced plans for $175-185 billion in total 2026 capex, with $70-74 billion allocated to data center construction. Combined, the four major hyperscalers are on track to spend more than $300 billion annually on data center infrastructure.
Blackstone looks to raise $2 billion to buy ready-made AI data centres
Blackstone has filed for an initial public offering of a new acquisition vehicle designed to buy operational data centres.
