Google plans $17 billion Wyoming data center amid rising threats of curbs

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google will invest $17 billion to build its first data center in Wyoming, the ‌company said on Thursday, pushing ahead with a major ‌AI infrastructure investment as political resistance to data center expansion grows following ​the US midterm elections.

Of the 41 data center-related ballot measures voted on this week, all but one went against data centers, according to Ballotpedia.

Google's facility will be built in partnership ‌with Tallgrass Energy, Black ⁠Hills Energy, American Electric Power and Related Digital.

The project will be powered in part by a ⁠planned 702-megawatt fuel-cell development equipped with carbon capture and storage technology. The fuel cells will be supplied by Bloom Energy.

Wyoming is ​a ​Republican stronghold, where Donald Trump ​won more than 70% of ‌the presidential vote in 2024.

The announcement comes as investors reassess the pace of the AI infrastructure buildout. Wins by candidates opposed to data-center expansion in key Texas and Georgia races during the midterm elections have added to concerns that ‌political resistance could complicate the industry's ​rapid expansion.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has declined to expand ​a Texas data-center ​agreement with AI cloud provider Nscale, with Bloomberg ‌News reporting earlier in the ​day that the ​company planned to tighten oversight of some data-center projects from neocloud providers Nebius, IREN and Nscale.

Shares of Bloom ​Energy also slumped ‌more than 14% on worries that any potential restrictions ​could hit the industry.

(Reporting by Prathik Jayaprakash in ​Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)