Issue #16
5 August 2026
Editor's Note
Meta is the headline this week. The company has raised its 2026 capex forecast three times this year and is now guiding to $130-145 billion, roughly double what it spent in 2025. The market did not take it well. Free cash flow fell from $8.5 billion to $784 million in a single year and investors are openly questioning whether the returns will justify the spending. Zuckerberg's answer on the earnings call was essentially that he believes in the bet. That may be true, but it is the first time we have seen a hyperscaler face real public scrutiny over AI infrastructure spending and it will not be the last.
The xAI story in Memphis is also one to read in full this week. A fourth data center confirmed in the same city where the illegal gas turbine controversy is still unresolved. And Samsung's floating data center moving from concept into engineering phase is a quiet but significant development. When a company of that size starts doing real engineering work on something, it usually ends up getting built.
North America
- Meta boosts AI data center capex, forecasts $130-145bn spend
The number keeps going up and free cash flow keeps going down. The market is asking questions the whole sector will eventually have to answer about return on invested capital at this scale.
- Crusoe files for two more data centers at Goodnight Campus in Armstrong County, Texas
Crusoe continues to build out its Texas footprint quietly and consistently in markets that most operators have not reached yet.
- Musk confirms fourth SpaceXAI data center in Memphis, company starts removing 'illegal' gas turbines
Expanding and remedying simultaneously. The community and regulatory dimension of hyperscale development is not going away and xAI is handling it in the most public way possible.
EMEA
- Yondr sells majority stake in Slough campus to UK pension fund
Another pension fund entering data center infrastructure directly. The investor base is broadening and the asset class is maturing in the way that real estate did a generation ago.
- Energy firm Uniper to build new data center hub in Hesse, Germany
An energy company entering data center development directly is a pattern worth watching across Europe. Existing grid relationships and energy assets give operators like Uniper structural advantages that pure-play developers do not have.
- UK government approves controversial 5.2MW Truman Brewery data center proposal
A listed building in one of London's most contested boroughs getting planning approval for a 52MW data center is notable. UK planning is getting harder and approvals like this one are increasingly rare.
Asia Pacific
- Samsung Takes Floating Data Center Plans into Engineering Phase
Moving from concept to active engineering is a meaningful step. If this gets built it changes the conversation around what offshore infrastructure can realistically deliver at scale.
- DeepSeek planning 1GW data center in Inner Mongolia, China - report
China's AI infrastructure ambitions are scaling at a pace that mirrors what we are seeing in the US. Inner Mongolia's climate and land availability make it a logical location for this kind of campus.
- Colt & RMZ look to develop gigawatt-scale data center campus in Vizag, India
Vizag is establishing itself as a serious alternative to Mumbai for large-scale development in India. A gigawatt-scale proposal from credible operators signals real confidence in the city's fundamentals.
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