Macquarie $5B AI Partnership; Google Scales Belgium to €5B; India Joins the 1GW Club
Welcome to Global Data Center Hub. Join investors, operators, and innovators reading to stay ahead of the latest trends in the data center sector in developed and emerging markets globally.
If you’re not a subscriber, here’s what you’ve missed so far:
Build or Lease? Inside the Billion-Dollar Dilemma Reshaping AI Infrastructure [Why even trillion-dollar tech giants are renting power instead of pouring concrete]
From Servers to Sovereign AI: A Free 18-Lesson Guide to Mastering the Data Center Industry [An 18-part series that breaks down the fundamentals, economics, geopolitics, and future of the world’s most important infrastructure.]
North America: The World’s Largest AI & Data Center Buildout Surges Past $500B [In H1 2025, North America led the AI race with $500B+ in data center commitments, rewiring its energy and digital core.]
Asia-Pacific: The $180B AI Race From Megacampuses to Sovereign Clouds: [Top 15 announcements ranked — From Reliance’s $30B AI city to SoftBank’s Stargate alignment and Alibaba’s multi-market blitz]
In This Issue
Global Heat Map, One Scroll — A fast sweep of this week’s biggest data-center and AI-infrastructure moves across North America, Europe, APAC, MEA, and South America curated for investors, operators, and policymakers watching the global power-to-compute race unfold.
Power + Parcels, Not Press Releases — From Google’s 1GW India campus to Macquarie’s $5B AI infrastructure vehicle and Google’s €5B Belgium expansion, the true winners this week are the players who’ve already secured land, grid capacity, and long-term PPAs.
Sovereign Compute Takes Shape — Oracle and SoftBank’s Japan partnership, Eletrobras’s Brazil debut, and Africa’s 25% annual power-demand surge show governments and national champions stepping directly into the AI infrastructure arena.
Platforms, Not Projects — From Sweden’s nuclear-powered data-center prototype to hyperscaler gigawatt clusters in Iowa and Northumberland, the market’s momentum is shifting toward vertically integrated, multi-site portfolios that marry energy independence with compute scale.
Dear Friends,
This week’s signal is unmistakable: control of the power corridor now dictates AI capacity. In North America, institutional capital and utility proximity led the tape Macquarie and Applied Digital’s $5B partnership formalized AI infrastructure as an investable asset class, while Google’s nuclear-adjacent plans in Iowa show future hyperscale expansions hinge on zero-carbon baseload power.
Europe advanced on two fronts Google’s €5B Belgium reinvestment anchored sovereign-grade, 24/7 carbon-free compute, while Sweden’s SMR-powered data-center MOU signaled that the region’s energy security debate is turning from constraint to competitive edge.
Across Asia–Pacific, Google’s 1GW India commitment and Oracle–SoftBank’s Japan sovereign cloud reveal how AI-era hyperscalers are co-designing capacity with governments and grid operators, ensuring gigawatt-scale supply meets national AI ambitions.
In MEA, Africa’s 25% annual power-demand growth and new data hubs in Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya are clear indicators of a continent shifting from consumption to creation where sovereign grids and telcos become co-architects of digital infrastructure.
And in South America, Eletrobras’s entry into data-center ownership marks a turning point: power producers are no longer suppliers they’re becoming platform builders.
The takeaway is simple and strategic: Before you line up GPUs or cooling, secure your megawatts, permits, and parcels. The next generation of AI infrastructure won’t be won in capex cycles it’ll be won in the power queue.
Global Perspective: What’s Happening in Data Centers Around the World
North America
Macquarie and Applied Digital hit the first funding milestone in their $5 billion AI-infrastructure partnership, signaling that AI-ready data centers are now a mainstream asset class. The structure combining private credit, securitization, and long-dated PPAs could redefine how institutional investors finance compute capacity across North America.
AMD Partners with OpenAI on 6 GW GPU Rollout: A New Front in the Compute Wars
AMD’s strategic partnership with OpenAI to deploy 6 GW of GPU compute globally marks the first credible challenge to Nvidia’s dominance. The deal could realign data-center design economics, power density, and global supply-chain priorities as operators race to diversify chip dependencies.
Google Bets on Nuclear Power in Iowa: Six New Data Centers Planned Near Reactor Site
Google is reportedly exploring up to six new data centers adjacent to a nuclear power site in Linn County, Iowa. The move underscores a growing trend among hyperscalers: pairing zero-carbon baseload power with AI workloads. Expect a ripple effect across U.S. utilities as data-center power procurement turns to nuclear-plus-storage hybrids.
Europe
Google Expands Belgium Campus with €5 Billion AI-Ready Investment
Google’s additional €5 billion allocation to its Belgian data-center portfolio cements the Benelux region as Europe’s low-carbon compute heartland. The expansion leverages abundant renewables and interconnectivity with London and Frankfurt, reinforcing the EU’s push for digital sovereignty under tight energy-use scrutiny.
Sweden’s First Nuclear-Powered Data Centers Break Ground: SMRs Meet AI Compute
Blykalla, Studsvik, and Evroc have signed an MOU to develop Sweden’s first nuclear-powered data centers at Nyköping. The project will integrate small modular reactors to provide carbon-free baseload energy, potentially redefining the ESG profile of European hyperscale development.
UK’s £10 Billion Northumberland Megaproject Enters Construction
Construction has officially started on the £10 billion AI-ready data-center complex in Northumberland, set to become one of the largest in Europe. The project symbolizes Britain’s re-industrialization through digital infrastructure driven by HVDC grid upgrades and AI-cluster development around power-secure sites.
Asia–Pacific
Google Unveils 1 GW Data-Center Cluster in India: The Subcontinent Joins the AI Big Leagues
Google’s 1 GW hyperscale commitment in India ends months of speculation over stalled investments. The build positions India as a new global compute hub, catalyzing grid reforms, state incentives, and manufacturing for liquid-cooling and transformer supply chains.
Oracle and SoftBank Join Forces on Japan Sovereign Cloud: A New Model for AI Autonomy
Oracle and SoftBank have announced a joint platform to deliver sovereign cloud and AI services within Japan. The partnership strengthens Japan’s digital self-reliance post-export-control tensions and could serve as a template for regional data-sovereignty frameworks across Asia.
China Activates World’s First Commercial Underwater Data Center
A 1,433-ton submerged data-center module has gone live off China’s coast the world’s first commercial undersea compute facility. Designed for ultra-low PUE cooling and land-use efficiency, it hints at a future where offshore AI clusters alleviate mainland grid and zoning pressures.
Middle East & Africa
Africa’s Data-Center Power Demand Surges 25% Yearly Grid Constraints Becoming the Main Risk
Experts project Africa’s data-center energy demand will reach 8,000 GWh as usage grows 25% annually. The rapid expansion highlights both a looming infrastructure gap and a once-in-a-generation opportunity for investors in hybrid renewable + battery projects powering cloud localization across the continent.
Cameroon’s ST Digital Opens Flagship Facility in Côte d’Ivoire
ST Digital has launched a new regional data center in Côte d’Ivoire, underscoring the rise of Francophone Africa in the digital-infrastructure map. The site enhances West African interconnectivity and supports new AI and fintech workloads anchored in Abidjan.
South America
Eletrobras Enters the Data-Center Race Brazil’s Utility Giant Goes Digital
Eletrobras announced plans to build its own data center in Campinas, São Paulo, marking the first time a Latin American utility vertically integrates compute into its generation portfolio. The move blends energy and digital policy, signaling that the next wave of AI capacity in the region could come from state-aligned power incumbents.
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Every week, we break down the trends shaping the future of data centers, cloud, and AI, from emerging markets to hyperscale battlegrounds.
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