Issue #29

Editor's Note

North America

• NBC exit poll: 56% say AI data centers were a crucial or major factor in Congressional vote decision

  NBC exit polling found that 56% of respondents considered AI data centers a crucial or major factor in their US Congressional vote, while 76% opposed building a data center in their community. For US data center hiring leaders, this opposition highlights the importance of permitting, government affairs and community engagement expertise in development teams.

• Nvidia, AMD Commit $4B to Meta AI Buildout

  Nvidia committed $3 billion and AMD $1 billion to Meta as it seeks to raise $97.5 billion through an equity offering to fund continued AI infrastructure investment. The planned expansion of Nvidia and AMD deployments makes expertise in GPU and CPU integration, rack-scale systems and data center networking relevant to infrastructure hiring and team development.

• AEP, Google Advance $4 Billion Fuel-Cell Project to Power Cheyenne Data Centers

  AEP plans a $4 billion, 702 MW Bloom Energy fuel-cell installation near Cheyenne to supply Google's data center expansion under a 20-year power purchase agreement, with full operations targeted for late 2028. The project points to a need for teams skilled in fuel-cell operations, electrical integration, commissioning and power system controls to coordinate generation deployment with data center construction.

EMEA

• Portuguese gov't drafts new rules requiring data centers to be powered via renewable energy

  Portugal is finalizing proposed legislation requiring data centers to use renewable power and cooling that avoids fresh water or does not compete with public and economic water supplies, alongside rigorous environmental reviews. If adopted, the rules would make renewable energy procurement, cooling engineering and environmental permitting expertise more important for teams delivering Portugal's data center development pipeline.

• Brookfield plans for a $27 billion AI data center at UK power station

  Brookfield, Radiant and Drax agreed to jointly develop an AI data center at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire, with potential investment exceeding £20 billion and initial capacity targeted for early 2028. The project could create demand for power engineering, construction and data center operations teams, but hiring timelines remain dependent on approvals, securing a tenant and final investment decisions.

• Finland launches criminal investigation into Google’s clearing of forest for datacentre site

  Finnish police have opened a criminal investigation into alleged environmental law breaches after a Google subsidiary cleared and drained forest for a planned datacentre before completing required impact assessments. With work suspended at two Google sites, the case highlights the importance of environmental compliance, permitting and water management expertise in Finnish datacentre development teams.

APAC

• Google commits to $15bn investment in Malaysian data centers

  Google plans to invest $15 billion in Malaysian data centers and supporting water and power infrastructure during 2027 and 2028, expanding in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. The projects are expected to support more than 9,000 local jobs annually, creating demand for technicians, mechanical and electrical engineers, and logistics and security managers.

• Digital Realty and Goodman Group line up AU$715m bid for stake in Australia's NextDC

  Digital Realty and Goodman Group have offered AU$715 million for a 9.9 percent stake in NextDC, which has paused new development projects and land acquisitions following power upgrade delays at its Melbourne M3 facility. The pause creates uncertainty for development hiring, while the delays highlight the importance of grid connection, planning approval and community engagement expertise in Australian data center teams.

• Brookfield Seals $9B AI Data Centre Deal With Naver and More APAC Real Estate Headlines

  Brookfield finalised a deal to fund up to $9 billion in AI computing infrastructure for South Korea’s Naver, with a Brookfield vehicle buying chips and data centres that Naver Cloud will pay to use. The investment points to delivery and operational needs for data centre engineering, infrastructure procurement and AI computing teams in South Korea, although no hiring plans were disclosed.