Record-level construction and investment in data centers continues around the world
According to TD Cowen, U.S. data center leasing in Q3 surpassed all of 2024, with a record 7.4 GW leased by hyperscalers, and an additional 10.2 GW of active deals still in the pipeline. Oracle alone accounted for 5.4 GW, primarily to support OpenAI workloads, marking the largest single-quarter leasing surge in industry history. Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Anthropic also ramped up leasing, each pursuing gigawatt-scale projects across multiple U.S. regions.
A big market in terms of data center buildout has been Japan, which OpenAI says will surpass $33.2 billion by 2028. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry estimates that the total national power demand will increase by approximately 5.8% by fiscal year 2034 due to the expansion of data centers and semiconductor factories. The government’s “Green Growth Strategy” says it is focused on balancing Japan’s AI growth with demands for environmentally friendly strategies.
Not to be left behind, the Middle East is also ramping up its data center buildouts, and Chinese company Alibaba will be building a second data center in Dubai as part of its plan to spend $53 billion on cloud and AI over the next three years.
Susana Schwartz
Technology Editor
RCRTech
AI Infrastructure Top Stories
Record-breaking quarter: US data center leasing in Q3 2025 surpasses all of 2024, according to TD Cowen. A record 7.4 GW, with an additional 10.2 GW of active deals in the pipeline, are attributable to Oracle, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Anthropic.
Japan’s DC blueprint: OpenAI unveils Japan’s economic blueprint for data centers, a market expected to surpass JPY5 trillion ($33.2 billion USD) by 2028. The blueprint calls for long-term collaboration among government, industry, and academia to expand computing capacity while ensuring green energy supply keeps pace.
Alibaba in Middle East: Alibaba Group announced plans to invest at least RMB 380 billion ($53 billion USD) over the next three years to advance its cloud computing and AI infrastructure, reinforcing its commitment to long-term technological innovation. The investment, exceeds Alibaba’s total AI and cloud spending over the past decade.
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Enterprise AI ambitions: Palantir enters $200 million partnership with telco Lumen to offer enterprise AI services. Lumen will pair Palantir’s Foundry and Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) with its own edge computing, broadband infrastructure, and other digital services.
Meta-Blue Owl partnership: Meta formed a joint venture agreement with asset management firm Blue Owl Capital in a deal worth $27 billion to fund and develop the massive Hyperion data center in rural Louisiana. Blue Owl will own 80% in the joint venture.
Meta shrinks AI intelligence unit: Meta has laid off 600 from A.I. Superintelligence Labs, with Chief AI Officer Wang saying “By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact.”
Huge DC planned for Treasure Coast: One of the largest data centers in Florida is planned for the Treasure Coast. The $13.5 billion hyperscale data center, Sentinel Grove Technology Park, will be built on former citrus groves at Orange Avenue and Minute Maid Road in rural St. Lucie County.
U.S.-based chip deserves another look: Analysts makes case that Micron might be the most “underrated AI Infrastructure play of the decade,” noting its the only U.S. player offering high-bandwidth memory (HBM), with its HBM3E HBM, which offers high-capacity, high-bandwidth memory to advance AI innovation.
Payment network investing in DCs: Mastercard will invest approximately $289.1 million in three data centers in France. The DCs are intended to enable the localization of payments infrastructure and to create a sustainable, distributed network that can run anywhere.
Georgia pushing back on rapid DC buildouts: Georgia counties see a wave of data center ordinances and moratoriums, with eight counties and cities temporarily halting data center development to assess water and energy use (and where it’s sourced).