march DCEO: Online version (LINK).
PDF version (link), which mirrors print.
A few quick takeaways from “The Really Wild AI Ride” March feature in DCEO
~ Dallas is at the forefront of advances in data center development.
~North America is the most mature data center market in the world—and many want in the game [in ways you’d not imagine].
““Right here in Dallas-Fort Worth, you have a tech company that’s building the foundational layer to actually support all of those [semiconductor] chips,” notes Schaap.”
~The top hyperscalers are spending 100s of billions in 2025 to develop the digital infrastructure of the future to handle AI workloads, more dense compute and more data.
“However, AI also presents a unique solution. “For the first time, we have technology that can learn, synthesize, and simplify information in sophisticated ways,” [Tuttle] offers. ”
“By the end of 2019, when Marsh left Digital Realty, the landscape had shifted dramatically. He joined StratCap Data Centers in January 2020, just before the world’s axis shifted.”
“Keep turning the pages and you’ll read a scintillating feature from energy expert Jennifer Warren on the pioneers in AI and the data center space shaping the digital infrastructure’s next frontier.”
Radio interview: Drop Day of print version: Click KGVO Image
Talk Back Radio of Missoula, Montana Interviews about 3-city tour, with conversation drift to energy, data centers and what’s ahead. Also on Apple Podcasts.
Interview starts at 1:05
Rough timestamps:
shale, data center story to 1:08
tech competition, strategies to 1:11
caller Q about injustice; A to 1:17
disruption, frontiers to 1:21 (stop 1:24)
The research behind this story…
My (unpublished) data
Currently, AI represents approximately 10-20% of total data center demand. According to McKinsey, from 2023 to 2030, AI will represent 70% of total new data center power demand. If so, then AI power demand will represent about 40% of total data center demand.
…began in earnest in May 2023. Over the course of that period, I collected data, research and firsthand interviews, plus passing comments from knowledgeable people. Below are videos from an Oct ‘24 Fed AI/Big Data conference; a big energy announcement after the Stargate announcement; and a mid-Jan 2025 response about OpenAI’s blueprint (prior to Stargate announcement around inauguration time).
and since then…
At late February, since the $500 billion Stargate Project announcement, Apple announced a $500 billion capex trajectory. While some had already been baked in, nonetheless, it had specificity that was notable. Relative to my areas of interest, the advanced manufacturing facility in Houston for servers and the data centers connected to its offering to support Apple Intelligence were remarkable. Microsoft has been partnering with firms to advance its enterprise offerings; Nvidia and Oracle, two Stargate beneficiaries, further communicated their ties. In Nvidia’s earnings call 2/26/25, CEO Jensen said we’ve been into these newer AI developments for about two years now, which is roughly when I started my inquiry and describing this as a new era last year when conceptualizing “The Long Runway for New Energy Demand”, Montana talks, and the digital infrastructure story. We’re all trying to describe what’s happening almost in real time.
“[At Q3 2024], in terms of top data center markets, Columbus, primarily a hyperscale market, was the fastest growing at a whopping 824%. Now in fifth place, [in terms of growth], Dallas was overtaken by Atlanta until it took a reputational hit after the winter storm Uri knocked out the Texas power grid. Atlanta’s ties to the eastern U.S. grid and reliability are seen as more favorable. However, Texas has four major data center markets—Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin. ”
Shortlist of video commentary and research
