Hyperscalers, sovereign cloud, data centres and networking.
Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency will enforce a cloud-first policy from July 1, 2026, requiring agencies to justify non-cloud IT projects. Industry analysts caution that tight timelines could lead to lift-and-shift migrations, vendor lock-in, and security gaps without proper planning.
The Public Utility Commission of Texas approved ERCOT’s Batch Zero framework, replacing a utility-by-utility approach with a systemwide study to assess new large loads, including 65 GW of data center and AI-related demand. The shift aims to address backlogs and coordination challenges in the existing interconnection process.
A RIPE Labs analysis distinguishes IPv6-Only+IPv4aaS for unmanaged access networks from IPv6-Mostly for corporate environments, urging operators to match transition mechanisms to use cases to prevent service degradation and operational complexity.
AWS has activated a Local Zone in Hanoi, Vietnam, offering compute, storage, and database services with local data residency support. The deployment connects to the Singapore parent region and targets latency-sensitive applications in regulated sectors.
Cloudflare, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox are collaborating on Private Access Control Tokens (PACT), a system designed to distinguish legitimate web traffic from bots without requiring CAPTCHAs or logins. The initiative aims to reduce repetitive identity checks while addressing concerns about AI-driven automation and privacy.
Backblaze has signed a $335 million, five-year agreement to provide CoreWeave with HDD-based object storage capacity, enabling tiered storage for AI workloads while preserving existing workflows. The deal highlights the growing role of cost-efficient storage in AI infrastructure beyond GPU capacity.
Alibaba Cloud has opened a new region in Paris, marking its third European location as part of a $69 billion global infrastructure investment. The move aligns with EU digital sovereignty goals and enterprise demand for AI-ready cloud services.
Virginia lawmakers approved a budget bill introducing a $0.011 per kilowatt-hour tax on data center electricity consumption, projected to generate $600 million annually. The measure preserves existing sales tax exemptions for data center equipment but excludes facilities from a new industrial utility rate carveout.
AWS has introduced Lambda MicroVMs, a new feature allowing developers to run isolated Linux containers on its serverless platform for up to eight hours, addressing long-standing requests for extended runtime beyond the previous 15-minute limit.
Facing a projected shortfall of 140,000 skilled workers by 2030, data center operators are bypassing traditional education to build their own training programs, apprenticeships, and partnerships with community colleges and trade schools.
Digital Realty has announced three transactions to secure power capacity in Kansas City, increase its ownership of African interconnection platform Teraco to 77%, and acquire investment firm Columbia Capital, aiming to address AI-driven demand for energy, connectivity, and financing flexibility.
Data4 announced plans to develop a €5 billion, 700 MW AI data center campus in Escaudain, Northern France, converting a former industrial site into one of Europe’s largest digital infrastructure hubs. The project reflects broader efforts to balance AI demand, grid constraints, and regional economic goals.
AWS has won a $2.6 billion cloud contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the Cumulus program, a new framework designed to streamline and reduce costs for department-wide cloud procurement. The deal marks the first of several expected awards to major hyperscalers, with Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure set to follow later in 2026.
Seacom has launched a 1Tbps terrestrial fiber route between Nairobi and Kampala, with expansion headroom to 30Tbps, improving access for carriers, enterprises, and cloud providers in East Africa.
Rackspace Technology and AMD have finalized a deal to roll out 30 megawatts of AI cloud capacity across global data centers, focusing on regulated industries such as healthcare and finance. The infrastructure will use AMD Instinct GPUs and EPYC CPUs within Rackspace’s Enterprise AI Cloud architecture, offering a unified cloud operating model for compliance-sensitive workloads.
Bull and Foxconn have started manufacturing AI infrastructure in Europe, using NVIDIA's Vera Rubin NVL72 platform as the first product. The €120 million initiative targets AI factories, cloud providers, and enterprises seeking regionally produced hardware.
Data centers continue to rely on water-intensive evaporative cooling despite alternatives, due to lower costs and proven scalability. Liquid cooling adoption is rising but remains limited by high installation expenses and operational complexity.
A Frost & Sullivan report identifies a growing demand for test and measurement tools to validate AI network performance, security, and scalability, projecting a $500 million market opportunity by 2030 as AI workloads expand into regulated sectors.
Cisco research highlights that 73% of organizations face or expect network capacity issues within two years due to AI adoption, with surging traffic and visibility gaps complicating deployments.
Digital Realty has launched programmable interconnection controls for private AI workloads, enabling enterprises to manage connectivity, telemetry, and sovereign placement at scale across its global colocation portfolio.