Companies review investment locations
Global technology companies are reviewing their investment strategies as the possibility of tighter restrictions on data center construction grows following the US midterm elections. With concerns spreading that new facility construction in the United States could face obstacles, building data centers overseas and expanding existing facilities are emerging as alternatives.
According to The Wall Street Journal on November 6, major technology companies are reviewing investment plans and potential changes to locations after a series of candidates opposing artificial intelligence (AI) data center construction won in the US midterm elections.
Victories by candidates who pledged to halt development in major data center locations, including Texas, Georgia, Ohio and Michigan, have raised the possibility of permitting delays and tighter environmental regulations for new facilities.
OpenAI is reportedly discussing internally whether to revise its data center expansion plans for next year. In a question-and-answer session with employees after the midterm elections, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman mentioned concerns among residents near data centers and indicated that building facilities in desert areas could also be considered.
Meta is also examining ways to expand data center investment outside the United States. At a conference on November 4, Dina Powell McCormick, who heads Meta's AI infrastructure business, said the company was more actively considering building new facilities overseas or expanding existing data centers.
Anthropic is also reportedly pursuing overseas data center projects after identifying US local governments' suspensions of data center construction as a major business risk. The aim is to reduce the potential for regulatory disruption by diversifying computing infrastructure concentrated in the United States.
Concerns over construction delays
Concerns are also being raised about delays in data center investment. Technology investor Brad Gerstner claimed that up to 35% of data center construction projects planned in the United States next year were at risk of disruption. However, this is an investor's estimate, and the actual scale of project suspensions has not been established.
Major technology companies are also preparing measures to ease community opposition. OpenAI has proposed directly covering the cost of expanding the power grid and strengthening cooperation with local residents.
As conditions for data center construction in the United States change, attention is turning to whether the geographic distribution of global AI infrastructure investment will also change. However, major companies are currently reviewing investment plans and exploring alternative locations, and actual investment cuts have not been confirmed.
Original Korean article: ebn.co.kr
English brief by Korea Wind Intelligence, koreawindintel.com
