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3M, Microsoft Partner to Advance AI Data Center Infrastructure

William Attardi on July 17, 2026

3M and Microsoft announced a strategic partnership focused on AI data center infrastructure and enterprise transformation. Microsoft’s Azure Cloud and AI Infrastructure will become the first announced hyperscale cloud provider to deploy 3M’s Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) technology. 3M will also use Microsoft’s AI and digital platforms as part of its enterprise transformation across key business functions. Together, the companies will combine Microsoft’s digital and hyperscale infrastructure with 3M’s materials science and precision manufacturing to accelerate AI adoption and strengthen the physical networks required for the growth of cloud and AI workloads. 3M, Microsoft Partner to Advance AI Data Center Infrastructure

Meta Expands Louisiana Data Center Project With $50B Investment

William Attardi on July 13, 2026

Meta announced Monday that it is expanding its Richland Parish, Louisiana, data center to 5GW of compute capacity in a town that’s already seeing big returns for teachers, local businesses, and students. The data center expansion is an investment of more than $50 billion in the Richland Parish region — one of the largest investments in AI infrastructure in the world, build in America — supporting infrastructure projects, workforce development programs, and an energy agreement that is expected to save Entergy Louisiana customers more that $2 billion over 20 years, on top of the $650 million in savings for customers from the first agreement. Louisiana Delta Community College is receiving a $5 million donation from Meta to create scholarships to train local residents for critical data center jobs. All graduates from Richland Parish’s high schools, beginning with the class of 2026, will be eligible for full scholarships for any data center-related trade certificate or course.Meta Expands Lousiana Data Center Project With $50B Investment – tEDmag

NVIDIA and Corning Announce Long-Term Partnership

William Attardi on May 26, 2026

NVIDIA and Corning Incorporated today announced a multiyear commercial and technology partnership to dramatically expand U.S.-based manufacturing of the advanced optical connectivity solutions needed to power next-generation AI infrastructure. Corning will increase its U.S.-based optical connectivity manufacturing capacity by 10x and expand its U.S. fiber production capacity by more than 50% to meet the accelerating demand driven by AI factory buildouts. The expansion includes the construction of three new advanced manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Texas and the creation of more than 3,000 new high-paying American jobs. Corning’s expanded capacity will supply the optical connectivity hyperscale data centers use to deploy NVIDIA-accelerated computing at scale. [News] NVIDIA and Corning Announce Long-Term Partnership To Strengthen U.S. Manufacturing for AI Infrastructure – LEDinside

Amazon Plans to Invest $25 Billion in Mississippi Data Centers, Create 2,000 Jobs

William Attardi on April 17, 2026

Two years ago, Amazon broke ground on its first data center campus in Madison County—the largest capital investment in Mississippi’s history at the time. That milestone was followed by a $3 billion planned investment in Warren County. Today, we’re proud to share that our total statewide planned investment has reached $25 billion, with plans to create 2,000 high-skilled jobs across all our Mississippi data center operations, further solidifying the state’s position as a leader in technology and innovation. And the impact extends well beyond technology; our data centers are also creating lasting economic opportunity. In Madison County alone, more than 75 Mississippi companies are engaged in construction and operations, employing thousands of construction workers, electricians, and operational staff. Amazon plans to invest $25 billion in Mississippi data centers, create 2,000 jobs

Meta to Build $10B AI Data Center in Northeast Louisiana

William Attardi on February 23, 2026

A transformational investment that cements the state’s status as a major innovation hub and puts this picturesque rural community on the leading edge of a global digital revolution. Meta projects the data center will support 500 or more direct new jobs in Richland Parish. Louisiana Economic Development (LED) estimates the project will result in the creation of more than 1,000 indirect jobs, for a total of more than 1,500 potential new jobs in the Northeast Region. The company estimates 5,000 construction workers at peak of construction on the 2,250-acre former Franklin Farm megasite that sits between the municipalities of Rayville and Delhi, about 30 miles east of Monroe. Meta to Build $10B AI Data Center in Northeast Louisiana – electrifiED

AI Startup Anthropic Announces $50 Billion Data Center Investment

William Attardi on December 5, 2025

Anthropic, which was launched in 2021 by former staff of OpenAI and is known for its “Claude” platform, said it plans initial sites in Texas and New York. Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic announced Wednesday a $50 billion drive to build new data centers in a partnership with British venture Fluidstack. Tech companies have been on a building spree for additional data centers, which provide the computing storage and processing power required by artificial intelligence. AI Startup Anthropic Announces $50 Billion Data Center Investment | IndustryWeek

Cheyenne to Host Massive AI Data Center Using More Electricity than All Wyoming Homes Combined

William Attardi on August 29, 2025

An artificial intelligence data center that would use more electricity than every home in Wyoming combined before expanding to as much as five times that size will be built soon near Cheyenne, according to the city’s mayor. With cool weather — good for keeping computer temperatures down — and an abundance of inexpensive electricity from a top energy-producing state, Wyoming’s capital has become a hub of computing power. The city has been home to Microsoft data centers since 2012. An $800 million data center announced last year by Facebook parent company Meta Platforms is nearing completion. The latest data center, a joint effort between regional energy infrastructure company Tallgrass and AI data center developer Crusoe, would begin at 1.8 gigawatts of electricity and be scalable to 10 gigawatts. A gigawatt can power as many as 1 million homes. But that’s more homes than Wyoming has people. The least populated state, Wyoming, has about 590,000 people. But this proposed data center is so big, it would have its own dedicated energy from gas generation and renewable sources.  Cheyenne to host massive AI data center using more electricity than all Wyoming homes combined | AP News

Trump Backs Massive Middle East AI Hub to Counter China

William Attardi on May 28, 2025

President Donald Trump has signed off on a major agreement with the United Arab Emirates to build the largest artificial intelligence campus outside the United States. The agreement marks a sharp turn from the Biden-era policy, which limited chip exports to nations seen as too close to China. At the center of the pact is a 10-square-mile AI campus in Abu Dhabi, backed by 5 gigawatts of power—enough to support around 2.5 million of Nvidia’s flagship B200 chips………… The U.S. Commerce Department called the initiative the largest AI infrastructure project to date. UAE state-linked firm G42 will construct the site, but American companies will operate it and provide U.S.-managed cloud services across the region. The White House said the UAE has committed to building or financing equivalent data centers in the U.S., while also aligning its national security policies with American standards.  The project signals a deepening U.S. presence in Middle East tech infrastructure and a possible new chapter in global AI competition.  Trump Backs Massive Middle East AI Hub to Counter China – Newsweek

How AI is Driving the Next Wave of Energy Innovation

William Attardi on April 8, 2025

Over the past two years AI has reigned in the minds of business leaders across the board.  While some industries remain hesitant in embedding AI into their business, leaders from the energy sector have been more open to AI led transformation possibilities in their businesses. Several energy organizations across the world are methodically experimenting with AI to drive digital transformation, with the sector already seeing real business value from AI.  According to the ‘KPMG International’s Global Tech Report: Energy insights’, 67% of energy companies are achieving measurable impact from active AI use cases. A big advantage of the energy sector is that there is a lot of data available, much of which is in digitised form. This availability of structured data complements with the broader structured and unstructured data available from external sources, creating a rich base for action in the energy companies. As a result, AI adoption in the energy sector is moving beyond proof-of-concept. Powering the Future: How AI is Driving the Next Wave of Energy Innovation

The AI Data-Center Boom Is Coming to America’s Heartland by Jennifer Hiller

William Attardi on March 31, 2025

Meta and other tech companies are scouring rural America for land, transmission lines and natural gas. Meta Platformsscooped up 2,700 acres of farmland last year for what would be its largest-ever data center, built over flat rice fields 45 minutes west of the Mississippi River.  At 4 million square feet, or 70 football fields, Meta’s data center will cost $10 billion and sit on more acreage than Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, which has more than 34,000 students. Building advanced artificial-intelligence systems will take city-sized amounts of power, which has turbocharged electricity demand projections for the first time this century. The AI Data-Center Boom Is Coming to America’s Heartland – WSJ

Remembering the Solemn Purpose of Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States observed on the last Monday in May to honor and mourn U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the armed forces. The holiday traces its roots to the years immediately following the American Civil War (1861–1865), which caused massive casualties—roughly 620,000 soldiers dead, about 2% of the U.S. population at the time. Communities across the North and South began spontaneously decorating the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers, wreaths, and flags, a practice that gave rise to the original name: Decoration Day. On May 5, 1868, Major General John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)—a powerful Union veterans’ organization—issued General Order No. 11. This proclaimed May 30, 1868, as a nationwide “Decoration Day” to honor those who died in the Civil War. After World War I, the holiday expanded to honor all American service members who died in any war, not just the Civil War.  In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act to create more three-day weekends for federal employees. This moved Memorial Day to the last Monday in May, effective in 1971, when it was also officially named “Memorial Day.” As one 1868 quote put it: “That Nation which respects and honors its dead, shall ever be respected and honored itself.”