The Data Center Rundown
   people here now
Today's top stories in Data Center

The Data Center Rundown

May 14, 2026

 

Amazon's Q1 FY2026 results reveal a $20 billion chip business, a $364 billion AWS backlog, and collapsing free cash flow, reframing AWS as an industrial infrastructure platform due to its significant capital expenditure.

Read at Global Data Center Hub→

 

Meta's Q1 2026 financial reset, involving $145 billion in adjustments, component inflation, $107 billion in commitments, and a compute-versus-payroll tradeoff, is reshaping its capital structure and the repricing of free cash flow.

Read at Global Data Center Hub→

 

Amazon's silicon pivot and Meta's payroll-for-compute swap in Q1, contributing to their $335 billion free cash flow, made cost structure the second critical variable in determining AI infrastructure leadership.

Read at Global Data Center Hub→

 

Do Amazon and Meta's free cash flow strategies signal a new industry standard?

 
Sustainable power for AI infrastructure

Fervo Energy's successful IPO, with shares soaring 35% on debut, boosts optimism for the role of geothermal energy in powering AI data centers, indicating a potential shift towards sustainable energy sources for the sector.

Read at Data Center Richness→

 

Will geothermal energy become the primary power source for AI data centers?

Meta has signed power purchase agreements with Desri for 850 megawatts of power across Oklahoma, Texas, and Mississippi to support its operations.

Read at Data Center Dynamics→

DataBank will install a 3.1MW rooftop solar array at its HOU3 data center in Houston, Texas, designed for an operational lifespan of 25 years.

Read at Data Center Dynamics→

H2CHP has raised £1.5 million to finance low-carbon generators for data centers, bringing its total funding since inception to £3.5 million.

Read at Data Center Dynamics→

Steve Benson of Prime Data Centers advocates for the adoption of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) as a fuel alternative for data center generators, citing its potential to reduce costs, lower emissions, and advance sustainability objectives.

Read at Data Center Knowledge→

 

Is Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil the future of data center generator fuel?

 
AI-driven data center automation

The integration of IT and OT systems is driving a revolution in data center operations, a necessary change to meet the demands of the AI era.

Read at Data Center Dynamics→

The article details how predictive and agentic artificial intelligence are transforming data center operations, moving beyond simple monitoring to achieve greater autonomy.

Read at Data Center POST→

 
Exploring space-based AI infrastructure

Google and SpaceX are reportedly in discussions to launch orbital data centers, signaling an acceleration in the space race and a new frontier for digital infrastructure.

Read at Bisnow→

Anthropic will leverage SpaceX's Colossus 1 supercomputer to expand its Claude artificial intelligence capabilities and is investigating future space-based artificial intelligence computing infrastructure.

Read at TechRepublic→

 
Chatter
The view from Reddit
“Bitlocker Recovery prompt --> UEFI 2023 update --> EFI partition out of space”

A detailed guide is provided to resolve Bitlocker recovery prompts caused by a full EFI partition preventing UEFI updates, involving manual cleanup of old BIOS files and triggering a secure boot update.

Read at r/sysadmin→

“Sole 365 Admin - best way to protect Global Admin”

A sole Microsoft 365 administrator seeks the most secure method to protect their Global Admin privileges, considering assigning specific roles instead of maintaining GA access for daily tasks.

Read at r/sysadmin→

“LOOKING FOR CAREER CHANGE”

A 28-year-old sales professional is exploring a career change into data center tech/operations and is seeking insights on earning potential, work-life balance, benefits, and the pros and cons from industry professionals.

Read at r/datacenter→

 
Enterprise AI adoption barriers

Red Hat is enhancing its hybrid cloud artificial intelligence offerings with Model-as-a-Service and sovereignty features to address escalating enterprise concerns regarding return on investment and geopolitical risks.

Read at TechTarget IT Infrastructure→

An excessive focus on proprietary data is hindering the real estate industry's ability to effectively adopt and leverage artificial intelligence.

Read at Bisnow→

 

Are data leak fears justified in restricting AI adoption in commercial real estate?

 

Energy shortages are presenting a significant obstacle to the continued growth of industrial automation.

Read at Bisnow→

 

Subscribe

Get The Data Center Rundown delivered to your inbox.

Free. Unsubscribe anytime.

The Data Center Rundown Trending topics Issue archive Companies & orgs About Privacy Terms
© 2026 Rundown Club
For Executives & Investors For IT & Cloud Architects For Infrastructure Engineers For Operators & Facility Managers For Sustainability & Compliance For Vendors & Service Providers