With temperatures rising to the 90s in Los Angeles, avoiding the heat wasn't exactly an option while I was at a relative's outdoor party in August. So I sat beneath a patio umbrella with a powerful fan nearby, figuring I was protected from the sun and heat. Half an hour later, I felt exhausted, dizzy, nauseous, and generally unwell, symptoms consistent with heat exhaustion.

Around the same time, I received a notification from an app used by the $249 ($149 at the time of publication) UV-tracking necklace I'd been wearing, called Gem, from a company called The90. It warned that my UV exposure had climbed considerably. It turns out UV radiatio …

Read the full story at The Verge.

SpaceX has declared that it’s going to make Starlink Mobile a “major” mobile carrier. The Elon Musk-owned company has already deployed thousands of direct-to-cell satellites, but its next big challenge is building out its 5G network here on Earth.

As part of its plans to rival AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, SpaceX has inked a deal with Qualcomm, which will deploy its cellular technology across tens of thousands of 5G cell sites starting in 2027. SpaceX is also reportedly in talks to buy Boost Mobile, potentially allowing it to launch Starlink Mobile through the service. Another report suggests SpaceX may tap into 80,000 cell sites across the US to build out its network.

SpaceX’s big plans have garnered some reactions in the telecom industry. Tim Höttges, the CEO of T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom, said he takes SpaceX’s plans “super serious” but that it could cost Musk more than $200 billion to pull off.

Follow along for the latest updates on Starlink’s major mobile carrier ambitions.

• What will it take for SpaceX to launch its “major” mobile network?
• SpaceX is working with Qualcomm to build its Starlink Mobile 5G network
• SpaceX could buy Boost Mobile as part of its big mobile carrier plans
• SpaceX’s mobile carrier push reportedly involves tapping into 80,000 cell sites
• SpaceX announces plan to become a ‘major mobile carrier’
• SpaceX is coming for T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon

Massive new data centers are the physical foundation for tech companies’ hopes and dreams for AI. But the rush to expand warehouses full of energy-hungry servers has also kicked up fights across the world over their impact on power grids, utility bills, nearby communities, and the environment.

Data centers were a major bipartisan issue ahead of the 2026 midterms, and voters largely opposed data center expansion at the polls. Tech giants like OpenAI and Amazon are promising to work more closely with local communities and cover their data center energy costs. But following the election, Democratic leaders are calling for further data center restrictions and slowdowns that the AI companies will have to grapple with.

From audacious plans about data centers into space, heated local battles over buildouts, and potential environmental impacts, here’s The Verge’s news, coverage, and reporting surrounding data centers and the companies that are building them.

• Lame-duck Congress might actually do something: speed up energy projects
• “We are a data center first company,” AMD CEO Lisa Su says.
• OpenAI is stepping back from NDAs for data center projects
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Data centers lost the midterms
• Maine Republican Susan Collins concedes Senate seat in a tech-fueled race.
• Democrat projected to win Ohio seat that Republicans warned could spell trouble for data centers.
• Data center-dense Texas turns blue.
• OpenAI is quietly renaming data centers ‘compute campuses’
• OpenAI pitches data center power plants as a way to protect nearby areas
• Could data center backlash flip Florida?
• Prop 45 in California could be hiding a loophole for data centers
• Maine’s data center revolt will decide who controls the Senate
• Data centers could send US climate pollution skyrocketing
• AI has come for Arizona’s water
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Voters in Texas agree: They hate data centers
• Highway robbers are targeting trucks carrying data center components.
• Data center backlash is uniting America
• Anthropic is burning gas to feed the AI boom
• It’s a good time to sell gray paint.
• Data centers could erase decades of air quality gains
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Trump says paying communities a “dividend” could make data centers more popular.
• Texas is still permitting data centers despite a supposed statewide moratorium.
• The fossil fuel comeback is here
• Microsoft abandons the UK’s largest data center project.
• Amazon is funding a new nuclear plant in Indiana
• You’ve got to hear both sides?
• Neocloud CoreWeave’s bonds are distressed, and so am I.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• A bipartisan bill aims to hold data centers accountable for their energy use.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Google’s power-hungry data centers crave nuclear energy
• A Japanese real estate company is building a data center in an underground tunnel.
• If a data center is camouflaged in the woods, will anyone hate it?
• Amazon writes scary blog warning communities not to block data centers
• The People of Utah vs. Kevin O’Leary
• South Park has a data center infestation.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Trump: “You’re going to see — data centers are going to be very popular.”
• Google is sending an AI satellite into space next week
• Data centers are black boxes, but California wants to change that 
• Americans sour even more on data centers.
• California tightens rules on AI data center energy and water use
• Virginia governor creates an AI task force and moves to restrain data centers
• The AI data center e-waste problem is huge — and getting bigger
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• AI and data centers are incredibly unpopular in every poll
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Is this the future of America?
• A Microsoft-backed data center has reportedly been running on unpermitted generators.
• Trump’s EPA wants to let data centers hide their air pollution
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Now OpenAI’s former head of data centers is out.
• There’s a surge of new gas projects being built to power data centers in the US.
• The latest turn in the data center debate.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Nvidia guarantees up to $105 billion to support an OpenAI data center.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• An Amazon data center could have the worst polluting power plant in the country
• The left and right agree on one thing: no data centers
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• AMD’s data center business is booming while gaming takes a backseat
• At least 37 people have reportedly been arrested for protesting data centers.
• Texas says data centers must pass an audit before connecting to the grid
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Willie Nelson is pushing back against data centers in his hometown.
• Meta and BlackRock are building a data center campus together.
• The right-wing boomers protesting data centers have a lot in common with the left
• Utility companies promise to spare us from AI’s energy bill
• Meta reportedly considers leasing computing power to Anthropic.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• AI’s power bill is here.
• New York becomes the first state to enact a data center moratorium
• The fight against AI data centers is just beginning
• Would you host part of an AI data center in your home?
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Anthropic signs 20-year lease agreement for an AI data center in Kentucky.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Meta might launch its own cloud computing business.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Nvidia says its AI data center design runs hotter to use a lot less water
• Amazon employees say they’re facing termination for backing data center limits
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• xAI’s gas-powered data center is necessary for national security, DOJ argues.
• SpaceX reportedly rented out Colossus 1 AI data center after it ran into latency issues.
• Amazon’s data centers used 2.5 billion gallons of water last year
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• GM thinks EVs can help offset AI’s energy suck with vehicle-to-grid tech
• Amazon employees ask Seattle to put the brakes on new data centers
• The mayor of Shelbyville, Indiana, says only people who live in ‘shitty houses’ oppose data center
• New York lawmakers pass one-year ban on new data centers
• Kevin O’Leary agrees to downsize massive Utah data center
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• AI has a water problem — Google thinks it has a fix
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Erin Brockovich created a map of data centers in the US.
• Anthropic is paying $15 billion a year for access to Elon Musk’s data centers
• What’s your score on the WSJ’s data center quiz?
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• The biggest data center ever is becoming a huge problem in Utah
• Use this map to find the data centers in your backyard
• Americans do not want AI data centers in their backyards
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Data centers are coming for rural America
• Google may work with SpaceX to launch data centers into space.
• 43 percent of Americans blame data centers as a major reason for rising power bills.
• A 40,000-acre data center project was just approved in Utah, despite outcry from the community.
• A political battleground is forming around data centers.
• Are AI data centers coming to your area?
• Data centers will soon have to complete “mandatory” energy usage surveys.
• “A data center should not be a potential death sentence for a community’s health.”
• Iran threatens OpenAI’s Stargate data center in Abu Dhabi
• Senators are pushing to find out how much electricity data centers actually use
• Arm’s first CPU ever will plug into Meta’s AI data centers later this year
• Lake Tahoe has to look for a new power source as data center demand soars.
• How the spiraling Iran conflict could affect data centers and electricity costs
• Seven tech giants signed Trump’s pledge to keep electricity costs from spiking around data centers 
• Trump claims tech companies will sign deals next week to pay for their own power supply
• Anthropic says it’ll try to keep its data centers from raising electricity costs
• How an ‘icepocalypse’ raises more questions about Meta’s biggest data center project
• Microsoft wants to rewire data centers to save space
• New York is considering two bills to rein in the AI industry
• Elon Musk is merging SpaceX and xAI to build data centers in space — or so he says
• It’s a new heyday for gas thanks to data centers
• Microsoft gets approval to build 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
• Meta is spending millions to convince people that data centers are cool and you like them
• The winter storm tested power grids straining to accommodate AI data centers
• Microsoft wants to build 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
• OpenAI says its data centers will pay for their own energy and limit water usage
• ICE hits Meta data center project.
• Amazon is buying copper harvested by bacteria for its data centers
• Microsoft scrambles to quell fury around its new AI data centers
• Data center projects are dropping like flies.
• That’s a lot of money for just one data center job.
• Alphabet is acquiring a data center company.
• Communities are rising up against data centers — and winning
• Democratic lawmakers are investigating data centers’ impact on electricity costs 
• Billionaires want data centers everywhere, including space
• AI’s water and electricity use soars in 2025
• Racks of AI chips are too damn heavy
• The scramble to launch data centers into space is heating up
• Data center construction moratorium is gaining steam
• Satya Nadella acknowledged that data centers are “putting a lot of pressure” on power grids.
• The largest power grid system in the US is considering rolling blackouts because of energy-hungry data centers.
• Data centers in Oregon might be helping to drive an increase in cancer and miscarriages
• Nvidia says some AI GPUs are ‘sold out,’ grows data center business by $10B in just three months
• Data centers are already influencing the global forecast for clean energy.
• Anthropic will invest $50 billion in building AI data centers in the US
• Google has a ‘moonshot’ plan for AI data centers in space
• Google is turning on the gas for its data centers
• Why data centers are building their own power plants
• Electricity costs are up to 267 percent higher than they used to be in communities near data centers.
• Microsoft says this new cooling method could enable more powerful chips and efficient data centers
• OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank announced five new AI data centers as part of Stargate.
• Microsoft is turning Foxconn’s empty buildings into the ‘world’s most powerful’ AI data center
• Nvidia invests $5 billion into Intel to jointly develop PC and data center chips
• Tech companies ‘be on alert,’ NAACP says with new guiding principles for data centers
• Meta faces Democratic probe into plans to power a giant data center with gas
• Amazon is investing billions more into its Mississippi data centers.
• Mark Zuckerberg wants you to know he has a big AI data center, too
• Bill Gates’ nuclear energy startup inks new data center deal
• OpenAI and SoftBank are starting a $500 billion AI data center company
• CBS News reports OpenAI, Oracle, and Softbank will announce a “Stargate” AI data center project.
• Joe Biden signs executive order to speed AI data center construction
• Go read this report on Arizona data centers and those without power in the state.
• Google’s future data centers will be built next to solar and wind farms
• Meta is putting a $10 billion AI data center in Louisiana.
• xAI competitors are flying spy planes over the ‘Colossus’ data center.
• New AI data centers could raise Americans’ electricity bills.
• Some Memphis residents are pissed about xAI’s new data center.
• Can Meta clean up its data centers with geothermal energy?
• xAI faces accusations its data center is polluting the air.
• This climate tech startup wants to capture carbon and help data centers cool down
• Google plans to reuse heat after expanding a data center for AI
• AI and crypto mining are driving up data centers’ energy use
• Google’s new geothermal energy project is up and running
• The environmental impact of the AI revolution is starting to come into focus
• How data centers at public pools can keep swimmers warm
• Can hydrogen fuel cells power Microsoft data centers?

A massive permitting bill that could help energy projects come online much quicker and potentially lower utility bills for Americans is advancing with bipartisan support. And while it could be a catalyst for lots of clean energy, it could also speed up polluting projects and limit oversight of new data centers.

With data centers demanding more electricity for AI, environmental advocates fear that developers could take advantage of the reforms to evade public scrutiny and rely more heavily on fossil fuels. The bill sacrifices caution for speed, limiting environmental reviews and preventing communities from stopping a project from moving forw …

Read the full story at The Verge.

The head of T-Mobile's parent company is casting doubt on SpaceX's plans to make Starlink Mobile a "major" carrier in the US. During an earnings call on Thursday, Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges says he takes the Elon Musk-owned company "super serious," but that it will cost at least $200 billion to pull off:

He [Musk] has now bought 76 megahertz of spectrum. By the way, we have 400. So if you now say he can buy the spectrum prospectively, do your math. These are kind of triple-digit billions which are needed to gain the spectrum position. If he has the money, go for it. Then he has to build a network. I can tell you, we have 85,000 tower …

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Blue Origin plans to do its next New Glenn rocket launch in January 2027, according to CNBC and the Financial Times, which cite a memo from CEO Dave Limp sent to staff. The new timeline follows a May launchpad explosion that damaged Blue Origin's New Glenn launchpad ahead of a flight that would have brought Amazon Leo satellites into space.

In October, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos told Fox News that the company was aiming for a December New Glenn launch, joking that it could be "probably December 31st." The new, revised launch window is "about 10 days later than Blue Origin's earlier launch target," CNBC reports. Limp also reportedly cite …

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Yesterday NASA announced the latest addition to its X-series of experimental aircraft that have included the Bell X-1 that first broke the sound barrier nearly 80 years ago, and the more recent X-59 quiet supersonic demonstrator. The new X-70 Fractal is designed to be a "high-performance, highly adaptable research platform" that NASA can use as a testbed for the development and testing of next-generation aviation technologies.

The agency only released an AI-generated image of the X-70 shrouded in smoke and shadows, but confirmed several of the plane's capabilities. It will be a crewed aircraft with a cruising speed of Mach .75 that can reac …

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United has built a custom, native Spotify app for seatback displays, allowing passengers to log directly in to their personal accounts and stream their own libraries, playlists, and video podcasts while flying 35,000 feet in the air. The new integration is being powered by Starlink's satellite Wi-Fi, which is currently being installed throughout United's entire fleet.

The news marks a major shift in legacy in-flight entertainment. Gone are the days of stethoscope-style plastic tubes, armrest dials, and canned playlists. These older airplane systems were built on the assumption that flights had no internet, so all movies and music had to be …

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Amazon and Uber are teaming up to make Uber Eats the official restaurant delivery partner for Prime subscribers in the US. The news comes as Uber faces a drastically reshaped competitive landscape with the merging of rivals DoorDash and Instacart.

Under the new partnership, Amazon Prime subscribers will get $0 delivery fees on restaurant orders of $25 or more directly through Amazon's app or website - without having to use Uber Eats or even create an account. Essentially, Amazon Prime subscribers who never bothered to sign up for Uber can now order takeout without needing to create an Uber account.

Prime members can order Uber Eats takeo …

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One of the basic problems of spending too much time on social media is that you are cooking your brain by reading posts from a pack of attention-seeking lunatics. If your social media of choice is the site formerly known as Twitter, and it is your main source of contact with the outside world, you may delusionally throw away nearly $500 million dollars on midterm elections, just like Elon Musk.

In particular, $47 million of that money from Musk's America PAC was aimed at defeating Texas Democrat James Talarico, who trounced Musk's preferred Senate candidate, Ken Paxton, with 55 percent of the vote. Talarico even made Musk's influence a cent …

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SpaceX is teaming up with Qualcomm to build out its nationwide mobile network. Under the multi-year deal, SpaceX will bring Qualcomm's Dragonwing technology to "tens of thousands" of 5G cell sites across the US, with the first deployments set for 2027.

The news of the partnership comes as part of SpaceX's push to make Starlink Mobile a "major" carrier in the US, competing directly with T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. The Elon Musk-owned company has already snapped up a swath of spectrum, while recent reports suggested that SpaceX was exploring an acquisition of Boost Mobile.

Now, SpaceX is planning to use Qualcomm's Dragonwing Cellular Infras …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Almost 22 years after it was launched, NASA's Swift Observatory is now about to fall back to Earth on Wednesday after attempts to push it back into a higher orbit failed. NASA announced that the aging space telescope is anticipated to re-enter Earth's atmosphere at approximately 3:30AM ET (give or take 11 hours) and that it expects most of the spacecraft to burn up, but some components will likely survive re-entry.

The observatory weighs around 3,200 pounds and measures in at 5.6 meters (18.4 feet) high and 5.4 meters (17.7 feet) wide, though much of the latter includes the observatory's deployable solar arrays. The risk of surviving compon …

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In an announcement on Monday, OpenAI says it will pilot its "Grid Protectors Program" at an upcoming data center in Effingham County, Georgia, where the company promises to free up to 1,000 megawatts of power during extreme weather or emergencies, enough to power air conditioners in around 700,000 homes.

The announcement comes as opposition to data centers spreads across the US, in response to massive projects that have begun development and construction, frequently with little or no input from local residents. In Utah, residents protested after Box Elder County commissioners signed off on a data center expected to consume more than double …

Read the full story at The Verge.

SpaceX has discussed a deal with Boost Mobile to launch its own service through the budget-friendly carrier, according to a report from The Washington Post. The deal, which comes as SpaceX aims to make Starlink a "major" mobile carrier, reportedly involves the Elon Musk-owned company acquiring Boost Mobile or accessing its network.

Musk discussed the potential agreement with Charlie Ergen, chairman of Boost Mobile parent company EchoStar, last month, as reported by The Washington Post. Boost Mobile's network is currently powered by T-Mobile and AT&T, meaning SpaceX may need permission from the two carriers to launch its service.

Neither …

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Gravity is a cruel mistress, slowly dragging the famed Hubble Space Telescope ever closer to its ultimate demise with every day. Hubble is in no immediate danger of burning up in the Earth's atmosphere, but its time will run out in the early to mid 2030s unless its orbit is boosted. So NASA is taking proposals from the private sector to see if anyone can save it.

In a post on NASA's site, Administrator Jared Isaacman said:

Hubble still has important science ahead of it, and we should be looking at every reasonable opportunity to keep it delivering for as long as possible … If there are innovative and cost-effective ways to extend the life …

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A high-stakes California ballot measure pitched as a fast track for "essential" infrastructure could wind up giving data center developers a loophole to evade public scrutiny, environmental advocates warn.

Proposition 45 would shorten timelines for state-mandated environmental assessments for eligible projects and make it more difficult for residents to challenge those projects in court. Proponents say passing the measure would help alleviate the state's housing shortage and meet rising electricity demand with new renewable energy projects. Environmental groups and some legal experts, however, warn that data center developers backing the pr …

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Google's AI chip-equipped satellite has generated its first response from space. In a blog post on Friday, Google says it successfully booted up the satellite's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), allowing the on-board Gemma 4 model to follow through on a prompt to create a haiku about being in space:

Blue marble below

Data streams in silent grace

Starlight feeds my core. ✨

Google says it tried out other space-themed limericks and telemetry prompts as well. The test is part of Google's Project Suncatcher, an experimental initiative that could eventually put AI data centers in space. Google launched the satellite into orbit earlier this …

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After months of bombarding mathematicians with a relentless stream of AI-generated results, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says he sympathizes with researchers struggling to make sense of it all. But he has no intention of stopping - and hints there could be much more to come from the company's stockpile of discoveries.

"I think, on net, the world deserves to understand how the universe works," Altman said during an episode of the Cheeky Pint podcast released Thursday. "But I do have empathy for the method."

His comments mark one of the first times the OpenAI chief has directly acknowledged the company's impact on mathematicians, following a strin …

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