Google, Microsoft and Amazon Drive New Data Center Expansion

Aterio’s June 2026 update says May brought a wave of data center activity across North America, led by Google, Blackstone, Microsoft and Amazon. The report highlights new partnerships, campus construction, land buys and one major project rejection, showing how power, policy and execution are shaping where AI and cloud capacity gets built. Why it matters: - May’s projects show that data center growth is being pushed by AI demand, cloud expansion and access to power-backed sites. - The update also shows a widening gap between announced capacity and actual buildout, which raises execution risk for developers and customers. - Local approvals still matter. Cleveland’s rejection of a proposed hyperscale campus shows that policy can still stop projects even in a high-demand market. What happened: - Aterio released its June 2026 US Datacenter Monthly industry update on June 16, 2026. - The report covers major development activity observed during May 2026 across North America. - The update tracks cloud infrastructure partnerships, hyperscale campus development, vertical construction milestones, land acquisitions and project approval outcomes. - Aterio’s monthly reports are based on its daily-updated subscription dataset of active, under-construction and announced data center projects. - Blackstone and Google formed a joint venture to build a dedicated TPU cloud platform. - Microsoft secured two facilities at Crusoe’s Stargate–Abilene campus in Texas. - Amazon acquired a 1,300-acre property in Bastrop County, Texas. - Cleveland City Council rejected Lakeland Equity Group’s proposed $1.6 billion hyperscale data center campus in Slavic Village. The details: - Blackstone’s capital and Google’s AI hardware and software stack will be combined in the TPU cloud joint venture. - The partnership is designed to expand enterprise access to dedicated compute capacity. - Beacon Point is developing a 525-acre hyperscale data center campus in Nueces County, Texas. - The Beacon Point site has approved capacity of 1 GW. - Beacon Point targets about 700 MW by Q1 2027 and the remaining 300 MW by Q4 2028. - The first two phases of the Beacon Point project represent an estimated $17 billion investment. - Related Digital is the developer for Google’s planned $15 billion data center campus in Montgomery County, Missouri. - The Missouri project spans more than 900 acres. - The Missouri campus includes two 741,000-square-foot data center buildings and supporting infrastructure. - Vertical construction has started on Building 1 of Related Digital’s 1.4 GW Michigan campus. - The Michigan campus is part of the Stargate initiative serving Oracle and OpenAI. - May 2026 satellite imagery shows land staging and grading for Buildings 9 and 10 at Crusoe’s Stargate–Abilene campus. - The two Crusoe facilities were recently secured by Microsoft. - Each of the two buildings is planned at 738,382 square feet and about 336 MW. - The two Microsoft-linked buildings add roughly 672 MW of new capacity. - Satellite imagery confirms Bell broke ground on its planned 300 MW campus in Sherwood, Saskatchewan. - Site clearing at the Bell project began in late April. - The Bell development is expected to support Cerebras’ infrastructure needs as the company enters public markets. - Amazon’s Bastrop County purchase positions the property for potential future data center development. - Amazon has not disclosed campus plans, building counts or power capacity for the Bastrop site. - Cleveland’s rejected project called for three two-story buildings totaling 150 MW across the former Morabito Enterprises site. - The rejected Cleveland campus would have cost $1.6 billion. - The Cleveland decision came as the city considered broader policy restrictions on data center development. Between the lines: - The strongest projects now appear to be the ones with land secured, power lined up and visible construction progress. - The month’s activity suggests investors and cloud companies are moving from announcements toward physical execution, but not every project will clear local politics. - AI-focused compute capacity remains the central driver behind many of these deals, from TPU infrastructure to Stargate-related campuses. What’s next: - More projects will likely be judged on whether they can move from land control to construction and then to energized capacity. - Regional approvals and utility access will remain key bottlenecks as developers chase larger campuses and faster delivery timelines. - Aterio’s monthly updates should continue to track which announced projects become real capacity and which stall before buildout.