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Received — 23 October 2026 ⏭

The states with the fewest and most data centers, ranked

✇Business Insider
By: Roya Shahidi
23 October 2026 at 17:56
Aerial view of a large industrial facility with rooftop equipment, exterior construction, roads, parking lots, and surrounding greenery.
An Amazon Web Services data center under construction in Sterling, Virginia. Virginia has the highest number of data centers of any state.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

  • The AI boom is accelerating data center development across the US.
  • Even states with few data centers are attracting major hyperscale projects.
  • Here's how all 50 US states rank by their number of operational data centers.

The data center business is booming in the US, and some states are feeling it more than others.

Data centers, which house the computing machines that power digital services, have been around for decades. However, the amount of computing power required to fuel the AI boom has accelerated their development and brought the industry into the mainstream.

This ranking was compiled by analyzing data from Data Center Map, an industry source that maps data center locations around the world. It shows a snapshot of its US database as of October 2026. Business Insider limited this ranking to fully operational data centers.

Data Center Map compiles its data from multiple sources and mainly tracks cloud and colocation service providers. Each data center it tracks has to have an initial capacity of at least 10 cabinets. While some states have hyperscale AI data centers, others have relatively small operations.

Firstly, data center operators and service providers add their own listings to market themselves. Data Center Map also monitors external databases and manually identifies any missing operators. It also handles requests from users who identify missing or outdated listings.

There is no federal requirement for data centers to register in a central database, so the figures should not be interpreted as a complete census of every data center in the country. Data Center Map also says it has a "more limited coverage on enterprise and government data centers."

Last year, Business Insider created its own US data centers map, which included estimated power usage, as part of an investigation into the industry.

Here are the states with the most operational data centers, ranked from least to most.

50. Vermont
Aerial view of a small town with a white church steeple, forested hills, and mountains under a cloudy sky.
Stowe, Vermont.

Jim Espey/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 3

Vermont's three operational data centers are located in Stowe, South Burlington, and Williston. The state has a limited electrical grid, according to the Vermont Natural Resources Council.

49. Alaska
Aerial view of downtown Anchorage with residential neighborhoods, high-rise buildings, green parkland, and Cook Inlet waterfront.
Anchorage, Alaska.

Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 4

Half of Alaska's operational data centers are located in Anchorage. The University of Alaska Fairbanks said that the high cost of electricity and network connections are some of the challenges for data center buildout in the state.

48. South Dakota
Waterfalls cascade over rocky ledges beside a stone-and-wood structure under a partly cloudy sky.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Lindsay Guido/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Number of operational data centers: 5

Most of South Dakota's data centers are in Sioux Falls. Lawmakers in South Dakota rejected proposals for industry tax incentives in 2026 while enacting new restrictions on electricity and water use, according to the South Dakota Searchlight.

46. Maine (tie)
Green steel truss bridge spans a calm river beside rocky banks, vegetation, and red brick industrial buildings.
Brunswick, Maine.

Photo Italia LLC/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Number of operational data centers: 6

Maine has data centers in Portland, Brunswick, and Bangor.

Maine's Gov. Janet Mills signed an order in April to establish a data center advisory council to advise on large-scale data center development.

46. Delaware (tie)
Wilmington, Delaware.
Wilmington, Delaware.

Bo Shen/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 6

Half of the data centers in Delaware are located in Wilmington.

Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer signed legislation in August requiring data centers to generate their own energy and cover infrastructure costs, WHYY reported.

44. West Virginia (tie)
Steel arch bridge spans a river beside a downtown skyline at dusk with reflections on the water.
Charleston, West Virginia.

Sean Pavone/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Number of operational data centers: 7

West Virginia's data centers are located in South Charleston, Bridgeport, Charleston, Star City, Petersburg, Nitro, and Berkeley Springs.

Having previously lacked the regulatory framework to approve or deny large-scale projects, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced a data center development plan in August.

44. Rhode Island (tie)
Aerial view of downtown Providence skyline beside the Providence River under a partly cloudy blue sky.
Providence, Rhode Island.

Wirestock/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 7

All of Rhode Island's data centers are located in Providence.

The Providence Journal reported in April that one of the reasons Rhode Island has not been as attractive to data center developers is high energy costs.

42. Montana (tie)
Elevated view of a city skyline with tree-filled neighborhoods and low hills under a cloudy sky.
Billings, Montana.

George Dodd/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 8

The majority of Montana's data centers are located in Billings.

Big Sky Digital Infrastructure is developing a 5,100-acre campus 30 miles north of Billings.

42. Hawaii (tie)
Honolulu waterfront skyline at dusk with Aloha Tower lit beside harbor water and office buildings.
Honolulu, Hawaii.

otman lazrak/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 8

Over half of Hawaii's data centers are in Honolulu.

The Honolulu Civil Beat reported that there are currently no hyperscale data centers in Hawaii.

41. Arkansas
Urban park with a winding boardwalk over water, green trees, and a modern skyline beneath cloudy sunlight.
Little Rock, Arkansas.

Brandon Olafsson/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 9

The city with the most data centers in Arkansas is Little Rock.

Google announced its first data center in the state, to be located in West Memphis, in 2025, while Avaio is developing a large-scale one near Little Rock.

39. New Hampshire (tie)
Aerial view of a riverfront city with brick mill buildings, downtown towers, highways, and autumn trees.
Manchester, New Hampshire.

ChrisBoswell/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Number of operational data centers: 10

Manchester has three data centers, while the rest are spread across seven different cities.

A proposed data center in Nottingham was withdrawn earlier this year following local opposition, the New Hampshire Bulletin reported.

39. Idaho (tie)
Downtown Boise skyline and the Idaho State Capitol are lit by sunset beneath dramatic storm clouds.
Boise, Idaho.

knowlesgallery/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 10

Four of Idaho's 10 data centers are located in Boise, followed by three in Coeur d'Alene.

Meta plans to operate a $1.2 billion data center in Kuna, which it broke ground on in 2022.

38. Louisiana
Workers in safety vests walk through a muddy construction site with cranes, barriers, and steel framing in the background.
Construction underway at River Bend, Hut 8's AI data center campus in Saint Francisville, Louisiana.

Kathleen Flynn/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 12

The majority of Louisiana's data centers are located in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Meta is building its largest-ever data center in Richland Parish, which will house the multi-gigawatt AI cluster Hyperion.

37. North Dakota
Parked cars line a downtown street with historic storefronts, a skyway, and a modern high-rise under blue sky.
Fargo, North Dakota.

gnagel/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 13

Four of North Dakota's data centers are located in Fargo, followed by three in Ellendale.

There are some large-scale data center projects in the state, such as Applied Digital's 280-megawatt campus near Harwood.

36. Kansas
Terraced concrete spillway and pedestrian bridge overlook a pond in a landscaped park under a clear blue sky.
Lenexa, Kansas.

Wirestock/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Number of operational data centers: 15

Nearly half of Kansas' operational data centers are located in Lenexa, which has seven of the state's 15 facilities.

Kansas is experiencing a surge in plans for large-scale data center development, including one by Dubai-based developer Damac Properties in Edgerton, Kansas, The Wall Street Journal reported.

35. Mississippi
Industrial facility grounds with utility poles, work trucks, and a Southaven water tower behind a large white building.
Work continues on a data center being built by SpaceXAI in Southaven, Mississippi.

Brandon Dill / AFP via Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 16

Six of Mississippi's operational data centers are located in Canton.

Amazon announced in April this year that it increased its total planned investment in its Mississippi data centers, including in Canton, to $25 billion.

33. New Mexico (tie)
Desert roadside gate and fence stand before a dry hillside and rugged mountains under a clear blue sky.
Los Lunas, New Mexico.

Lily Kimei/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 20

Over half of New Mexico's data centers are located in Los Lunas.

Meta opened a data center in Los Lunas in 2019, which it has since expanded.

33. Connecticut (tie)
Elevated view of an urban plaza with leafless trees, surrounding buildings, and an American flag under a cloudy sky.
Stamford, Connecticut.

stockphoto52/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Number of operational data centers: 20

Connecticut's 20 operational data centers are spread across multiple cities, with the highest concentration in Stamford.

The Connecticut Mirror reported that lawmakers said the state's high electricity costs make it unattractive to data center developers.

32. Wyoming
Black cattle graze among sagebrush on a grassy hillside beneath a cloudy sky.
Cows graze in the area where the Prometheus Hyperscale Data Center will be built east of Evanston, Wyoming.

Natalie Behring/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 22

All but two of Wyoming's data centers are located in Cheyenne, with the other two in Casper and Afton.

In 2012, Microsoft built its first data center in Cheyenne and has expanded its footprint there multiple times since.

31. Alabama
Dusk Over The Downtown Urban City Center of Huntsville Alabama
Dusk Over The Downtown Urban City Center of Huntsville Alabama

ChrisBoswell/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Number of operational data centers: 23

Huntsville has the most operational data centers in Alabama.

Meta broke ground on its Huntsville campus in 2018.

30. South Carolina
Crowd gathers before a bunting-decorated stage labeled “MONCKS CORNER,S.C.” under a cloudy sky.
Moncks Corner, South Carolina.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 26

Moncks Corner has the most operational data centers in South Carolina, accounting for 11 of the state's 26 facilities.

Google has three facilities in South Carolina, where it first made its footprint in 2007.

29. Maryland
Aerial view of downtown Baltimore skyline with urban buildings, roads, greenery, and water under a partly cloudy sky.
Baltimore, Maryland.

Majestic_Aerials/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 27

Baltimore has the most operational data centers in Maryland, followed by Frederick.

Amazon is developing a new data center campus in Frederick, Maryland.

28. Kentucky
Aerial view of downtown Louisville skyscrapers and hotels, including the Galt House Hotel, under a clear blue sky.
Louisville, Kentucky.

Nicholas Klein/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 32

Louisville has the most operational data centers in Kentucky, with 13 of the state's 32 facilities.

Mason County, Kentucky, recently signed a development agreement for a Meta hyperscale data center, as reported by LEX 18.

27. Utah
Fenced industrial buildings sit beyond a dirt road and scrubland under a cloudy mountain skyline.
Meta data center campus complex in Eagle Mountain.

Charles-McClintock Wilson/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 35

Salt Lake City has the most operational data centers in Utah, followed by Bluffdale, Eagle Mountain, and West Jordan.

Meta operates a campus in Eagle Mountain, and the National Security Agency operates one located near Bluffdale.

25. Oklahoma (tie)
Aerial view of a large construction site with earthmoving equipment, parked cars, trailers, and cleared land.
Construction of a 500-acre data center in Owasso, Oklahoma.

Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 36

Most of Oklahoma's data centers are located in Tulsa, followed by Oklahoma City and Pryor.

Google operates a facility in Pryor and is developing additional locations in the state.

25. Nebraska (tie)
Google logo appears on a white industrial building beside utility structures, poles, grass and a cloudy sky.
Google data center in Papillion, Nebraska.

Misty Prochaska for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 36

Omaha has the most operational data centers in Nebraska, with 11, followed by Papillion and Springfield, each with 8.

Google has campuses in Lincoln, Omaha, and Papillion.

24. Wisconsin
Aerial view of a large industrial campus under construction with retention ponds, roads, and a sunset horizon.
Microsoft's data center project in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, on November 13, 2025.

Joe Timmerman/Wisconsin Watch via Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 41

Wisconsin's 41 data centers are spread across several cities, with Milwaukee and Madison hosting the most.

Microsoft finished building an AI data center in Mount Pleasant in June.

23. Massachusetts
Aerial view of a neighborhood with houses, tree-lined streets, and a large black industrial building.
The Markley Group data center in Lowell.

Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 46

Marlborough has the most operational data centers in Massachusetts, with six, followed by Boston with five, and Cambridge and Waltham with four each.

CBS News reported that the biggest, the Markley data center, is in Lowell.

21. Missouri (tie)
Downtown Kansas City skyline rises beyond green parkland and roads in warm evening light.
Kansas City, Missouri.

Garrett Smith/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 47

Missouri's 47 operational data centers are spread across eight cities, with Kansas City accounting for most of them.

Axios reported in September that most of Missouri's planned data center expansion is concentrated in the Kansas City metropolitan area, citing research by Cleanview.

21. Minnesota (tie)
Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture spans a pond in a green park with the Basilica of Saint Mary in the background.
Minneapolis, Minnesota.

GummyBone/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 47

Minnesota's 47 data centers are spread across 21 cities, with Minneapolis accounting for 15, followed by Eden Prairie, St. Paul, Shakopee, and Minnetonka.

Google announced earlier this year that it plans to build a data center in Pine Island.

20. Nevada
Aerial view of a large construction site with a partially built structure in a dry hilly desert landscape.
The Tahoe Reno Industrial Center. Several companies are building facilities in an area about 15 miles east of downtown Reno in this development project named the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center including data storage facilities from Switch. Apple is also building a data storage facility nearby in the Reno Technology Park (Photo by David Butow/Corbis via Getty Images)

David Butow/Corbis via Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 51

More than half of Nevada's data centers are located in Las Vegas.

Switch has plans to expand its Citadel Campus at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, which the company says will have gigawatts of power capacity upon completion.

19. Indiana
NEW CARLISLE, INDIANA - OCTOBER 2: In this handout provided by Amazon, a technician works at an Amazon Web Services AI data center in New Carlisle, Indiana on October 2, 2025.
A technician works at an Amazon Web Services AI data center in New Carlisle, Indiana.

Noah Berger/Getty Images via Amazon Web Services

Number of operational data centers: 51

Indiana's 51 operational data centers are spread across 11 cities, with Indianapolis leading and New Carlisle following.

18. Tennessee
Industrial construction site behind a chain-link fence with heavy equipment, trucks, tall towers, and drifting smoke.
Construction at an xAI data center in Memphis on April 25, 2025.

Brandon Dill for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 53

Nashville has the largest concentration of Tennessee's 53 operational data centers.

Elon Musk's xAI describes its Colossus facility in Memphis as the world's largest AI supercomputer.

16. Michigan (tie)
Aerial view of a large industrial construction site with cranes, white-roofed buildings, and surrounding farmland.
Construction of a data center developed by Related Digital for Oracle and OpenAI in Saline, Michigan.

: Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 58

Michigan's 58 data centers are spread across 27 cities, with Southfield accounting for the most.

Part of the Stargate Project, Related Digital kicked off construction of a $16 billion data center called "The Barn" in Saline Township in June.

16. Colorado (tie)
Heavy earthmoving machines work on a dirt mound behind a chain-link fence at a construction site.
QTS constructs a data center in Aurora in 2025.

RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 58

There are 14 data centers in operation in Denver, followed by 11 in Englewood, 7 in Centennial, and 7 in Colorado Springs.

QTS is expanding its 65-acre data center campus in Aurora, Colorado, Colorado Public Radio reported in July.

15. Iowa
Blue and gray edged facility building at 9100 behind a black security fence under clear sky.
The "Edged Des Moines" data center nears completion in Altoona, Iowa.

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 69

Altoona and West Des Moines are among Iowa's leading data center locations, alongside Council Bluffs and Des Moines.

Google has had a campus in Council Bluffs since 2007, recently invested in its expansion, and has also kicked off a new one in Cedar Rapids.

14. North Carolina
Modern gray building with vertical concrete panels, flags, parked cars, landscaped rocks, trees, and lawn under cloudy sky.
Meta's data center in Forest City, taken in 2010 when it was formerly a Facebook data center.

Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 76

Charlotte has 24 data centers, the most in North Carolina, followed by Raleigh, Maiden, and Lenoir.

Apple operates a data center in Maiden, according to The Charlotte Observer. Google and Meta also operate data centers in the state.

12. Pennsylvania (tie)
Two large cooling towers release steam behind an industrial facility construction site under a partly cloudy sky.
An Amazon Web Services construction project in Berwick.

Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 78

Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have the largest concentrations of operational data centers in Pennsylvania.

In 2025, Amazon announced plans to invest at least $20 billion in the state to expand its data center operations.

12. New Jersey (tie)
Large windowless concrete building sits behind a black fence along a quiet street under a clear blue sky.
The Equinix NY5 data center in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Kena Betancur/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 78

Secaucus and Piscataway are two of New Jersey's main data center hubs, alongside Jersey City.

Equinix operates a 129,436-square-foot data center in Secaucus, known as NY5.

11. Florida
Aerial view of a modern glass and concrete facility with orange accents beside a multi-lane highway.
The HostDime data center in Eatonville, Florida, is north of Orlando.

Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 113

Florida's 113 operational data centers are spread across 27 locations, with Miami accounting for the most at 33, followed by Tampa with 20, Jacksonville with 13, and Orlando with nine.

Data center provider HostDime has been based in the state since 2003 and is building a 100,000-square-foot facility in Eatonville.

10. Arizona
A data center under construction under a blue sky.
A QTS data center under construction in Phoenix in 2024.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 114

Phoenix contains 34 of Arizona's data centers, followed by Goodyear with 24, and Chandler with 17.

ABC 15 reported that companies such as Meta, Apple, and Microsoft all have campuses in Arizona.

9. Georgia
Aerial view of a large industrial complex under construction surrounded by parking lots, roads, forest, and power infrastructure.
A QTS data center complex in Fayetteville, Georgia, in 2024.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 123

Atlanta has the largest concentration of operational data centers in Georgia, with 43 facilities, followed by Lithia Springs with 25 and Social Circle with 10.

Google built its first data center in Georgia in 2007, and QTS is has one in Fayetteville.

8. Washington
Large industrial warehouse complex with flat roofs surrounded by trees and roads under a cloudy sky.
The Sabey Data Centers' Seattle Data Center campus in Tukwila, Washington.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 132

Quincy has the largest concentration of operational data centers in Washington, with 33 facilities, followed by Seattle with 31, Tukwila with 16, and East Wenatchee with 11.

Washington's Department of Ecology says Quincy and Wenatchee are popular spots because they have cheaper, reliable energy.

7. Oregon
Modern white industrial building with large dark windows, concrete walkway, rocks, and sparse landscaping under a clear blue sky.
The Facebook Inc. Prineville Data Center stands in Prineville, Oregon, U.S., on Monday, April 28, 2014. The Facebook Prineville Data Center features leading energy-efficient technology, including features such as rainwater reclamation, a solar energy installation for providing electricity to the office areas and reuse of heat created by the servers to heat office space. Photographer: Meg Roussos/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bloomberg/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 141

Hillsboro has the most operational data centers in Oregon, followed by Boardman, and then Umatilla and Prineville.

Oregon is home to Meta and Google's first-ever data centers: Meta built its in Prineville, and Google's The Dalles.

6. Illinois
Modern glass office building stands behind a wide road with parked cars and trees under a clear sky.
A CyrusOne data center in Aurora, Illinois.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 143

Chicago has the largest concentration of operational data centers in Illinois, with 49 facilities, followed by Elk Grove Village, which has 24. Lombard, Aurora, and DeKalb each have seven.

Companies such as Digital Realty Trust, Microsoft, Meta, and CyrusOne operate in Illinois.

5. New York
Gray industrial facility behind black security fencing, with autumn vegetation and trees under an overcast sky.
The JPMorgan Chase data center in Orangeburg, New York.

Kena Betancur/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 149

New York City is home to a large share of the state's operational data centers, with additional concentrations in Buffalo and Albany.

In July, New York was the first state to enact an executive order that imposed a statewide yearlong moratorium on hyperscale AI data centers.

4. Ohio
Aerial view of a large industrial construction site with rooftop equipment, rows of white units, cars, and surrounding fields.
The 5C Data Centers CMH01 on October 18, 2026 in Springfield, Ohio.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 189

Columbus has the largest concentration of operational data centers in Ohio, with Johnstown, Hilliard, and Cleveland also home to significant numbers of facilities.

Intel announced plans in 2022 for a major semiconductor manufacturing facility in New Albany, a suburb in central Ohio known as the "Silicon Heartland," which is already home to data centers operated by Amazon, Google, and Meta, as Business Insider previously reported.

3. California
Aerial view of city blocks with modern buildings, streets, cars, and a waterfront pier beside the bay.
The Digital Realty SFO12 Data Center, center in the Rincon Hill neighborhood of San Francisco.

Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 285

Santa Clara has the largest concentration of operational data centers in California, with 75 facilities, followed by Los Angeles with 51 and San Jose with 26.

Major operators in Santa Clara include Digital Realty, Equinix, CoreSite, and Vantage Data Centers.

2. Texas
Aerial view of a large industrial building under construction amid red dirt earthworks, cranes, equipment, and surrounding forest.
The Stargate Oracle AI data center under construction on August 26, 2026 in Abilene, Texas.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 358

Of Texas's 358 operational data centers, 58 are located in Dallas, 42 in Houston, and 39 in San Antonio.

Earlier this year, Business Insider, citing research from Jones Lang LaSalle, reported that Texas is on track to become the largest data center market in the world by 2030.

Texas is home to some of the world's largest planned data center projects, such as Fermi America's Project Matador.

1. Virginia
Aerial view of large industrial data center buildings beside a river and surrounding suburban neighborhoods.
An Amazon Web Services data center in Aldie, Virginia.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

Number of operational data centers: 452

Northern Virginia is not only the largest data center market in the US but also in the world. Major operators in the state include Equinix, Digital Realty, Microsoft, Vantage Data Centers, and Amazon.

Ashburn has the largest concentration of operational data centers in Virginia, with 102 facilities, followed by Sterling with 84 and Manassas with 60.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Energia pulita per l’AI: Amazon scommette sul nucleare modulare per i suoi data center

✇QuiFinanza
By: emanuelacolatosti
23 October 2026 at 10:32

L’uso sempre più massiccio dell’intelligenza artificiale comporta una richiesta di maggiore potenza di calcolo da parte dei server. Per questo i colossi della tecnologia hanno iniziato a varare strategie di lungo termine per provare a rendere autosufficienti, e in parte anche ecosostenibili, i propri centri di calcolo.

Per garantire un flusso costante di elettricità ai propri data center, Amazon ha annunciato un piano legato allo sviluppo di 12 reattori nucleari modulari di nuova generazione negli Stati Uniti, realizzati in partnership con la società X-energy e con l’utility American Electric Power.

Cosa sono i reattori modulari e l’intesa con X-energy

I reattori scelti dal gruppo di Seattle, che saranno costruiti sulle rovine di una vecchia centrale a carbone, appartengono alla categoria degli Small Modular Reactors, impianti che hanno dimensioni e potenza più contenute rispetto alle centrali tradizionali. La loro struttura componibile nasce teoricamente per abbattere i tempi di cantiere e modulare l’energia erogata in base al fabbisogno delle infrastrutture vicine. Modelli simili dovrebbero essere costruiti nei prossimi anni anche in Italia.

L’intesa rafforza il legame tra Amazon e X-energy, azienda guidata dal fondatore Kam Ghaffarian in cui il gigante dell’e-commerce ha già investito 700 milioni di dollari. L’obiettivo dichiarato dalle due società è l’installazione di impianti modulari per una capacità complessiva di 5 gigawatt entro il 2039.

I data center in Texas e il ruolo dell’intelligenza artificiale

Per comprendere l’entità dei consumi energetici in gioco occorre guardare ai territori a più alta densità digitale. In Texas si trova uno degli hub chiave per la rete di Amazon Web Services, dove il gruppo conta 3 grandi data center attivi coordinati nell’area di San Antonio.

Queste strutture svolgono una duplice funzione:

  • l’erogazione dei servizi cloud ordinari per la gestione dei dati e dei sistemi di vendita delle imprese.
  • l’elaborazione ad alta densità per i modelli di intelligenza artificiale, che richiedono un’erogazione continua di energia per mantenere operativi i processori in parallelo.

L’incognita dei tempi e dei costi

La scelta di puntare sull’energia atomica nasce dalla necessità di alimentare i server con continuità, senza ricorrere ai combustibili fossili. Tuttavia, la sostenibilità economica e industriale del progetto risiede tutta nell’effettiva realizzabilità dei mini-reattori nei tempi previsti, che si auspicano più brevi ed economici dei reattori tradizionali. In effetti, la tecnologia degli Small Modular Reactors rappresenta una frontiera industriale ancora priva di uno storico consolidato su larga scala.

Il successo delle scadenze fissate da Amazon dipenderà infatti dall’esito del primo impianto pilota che X-energy sta sviluppando a Seadrift, sempre in Texas, che dovrebbe essere pronto entro il 2030. Quel cantiere rappresenta il vero banco di prova sia sul piano dell’efficienza dei costi, sia su quello delle autorizzazioni ambientali legate alla gestione delle risorse idriche.

Should we panic and turn off the internet?

✇Business Insider
By: Alistair Barr
23 October 2026 at 10:00
Stephanie Cohen speaks during the Web Summit conference in Lisbon in November 2025.
Stephanie Cohen, Cloudflare's chief strategy officer.

Zed Jameson/Bloomberg via Getty Images

  • This week's cyber freakout explained: AI is making software weaknesses easier to find and exploit.
  • The message from Cloudflare's Stephanie Cohen and Vercel's Tom Occhino: Don't panic!!!
  • Do we need everything connected to the internet? Paper bank statements work well.

A few weeks ago, I heard a strange story about a friend who works at one of the Big Tech companies in Silicon Valley.

She'd recently ripped out the connected devices in her home, ordered paper bank statements, and stocked up on canned goods in her basement.

Now, she's a very sane, experienced person, and quite senior at one of the largest internet companies on earth. Why was she disconnecting so much? Just to be sure, my family ordered paper bank statements, too. It was still a head-scratcher, though.

Fast forward to this week, and her actions look a little less crazy.

AI models have exposed serious security weaknesses in software used by roughly 70% of websites. Meanwhile, US banks are finding AI agents inside customer accounts, including some that appear to be acting without their owners' instructions, Axios reported.

'Black October'

The digerati have now entered full freakout mode. Much of the internet meltdown is happening on, well, the internet, my colleague Alice Tecotzky noted.

On X and Reddit, warnings of a looming “Black October” spiraled into visions of AI grinding civilization to a halt. One lengthy post on X warned of a potential “global cyberattack/AI swarm” and offered a survival checklist: Stockpile cash in small bills, print out your neighbors' phone numbers, download maps, buy a hand-crank radio, and stash a gallon of water per person per day.

Oh, and don't forget the manual can opener. You don't want to survive the AI apocalypse only to be defeated by a tin of beans.

Nikita Bier, a prominent app developer and former head of product at X, best captured the mood.

"It's time to turn off the internet," he posted Wednesday night.

A Cloudflare exec says it's 'a little bit scary'

If you're reading this, you haven't done that yet. But should we really be worried?

I put that question to Stephanie Cohen, chief strategy officer at Cloudflare, which helps protect about 20% of the internet.

"The world is a little bit scary right now," she told me on the side of Cloudflare's annual conference in San Francisco this week.

Here's the problem. The internet is built on decades of software, much of it riddled with security holes.

Some of these weaknesses have been known for years. However, fixing them takes time and money, and hackers often lacked the skills to exploit them anyway. So they were left alone.

AI changes that calculation dramatically. Someone who previously needed years of training to break into a computer system can now get help from an AI model. And these tools can search for weaknesses at a speed humans simply can't match.

The result: The number of newly published software vulnerabilities (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures in industry lingo) has exploded.

Line chart showing monthly newly published CVE records from January 2017 through September 2026. Counts rose from 1,083 in January 2017 to 14,934 in September 2026.

Now, there's a frantic race between people trying to break into systems and those trying to protect them.

Don't panic about AI

Cohen's message, though, was surprisingly reassuring.

AI helps the good guys find and fix these problems. Cloudflare, for instance, released protections for the latest vulnerability to customers, including those using its free service.

And there's a bigger effort underway.

OpenAI has launched an initiative called Patch the Planet, working with Cloudflare and other security professionals to use AI to find weaknesses in widely used software and help repair them.

Tom Occhino, chief product officer at Vercel, told me recently that his company has been talking with partners about launching a nonprofit that would fund a swarm of good AI agents that go out on the internet to find and fix software flaws.

Amazon is joining the fight, too. Its new Continuum service, available Thursday, uses AI agents to find security holes and propose fixes. Amazon said that people maintaining freely available software can use it to help protect the wider internet.

Humans may still have to check and approve these repairs, but the prospect of AI helping clean up decades of neglected software is encouraging.

The irony of this is not lost on some in the industry.

"The funny thing is everyone was saying AI slop code will cause a cyber crisis but it's actually all the old human slop causing it and the AI is just cleaning it up," software engineer Ben Kaufman wrote on X on Thursday.

Either way, Cloudflare's Cohen thinks these AI-inspired freakouts will push the industry to do better — by exposing issues and adding urgency to get them patched.

"We may end up in a world where actually we've become significantly more secure at the end," she said.

The trouble is getting there.

A fundamental question about the internet

Tom Occhino (left), chief product officer at Vercel, talks with Meta executive Prashant Ratanchandani at Vercel's Ship SF conference.
Tom Occhino (left), chief product officer at Vercel, talks with Meta executive Prashant Ratanchandani at Vercel's Ship SF conference.

Alistair Barr/Business Insider

When I ran into Occhino recently at a Vercel conference in San Francisco, he described a world in which software that everyone assumed was safe suddenly looks vulnerable because increasingly capable AI models are scrutinizing the basic systems that underpin the internet.

That led to a more fundamental discussion between us: Why did we connect so many things to the internet in the first place?

For years, the technology industry has raced to put everything online. Thermostats. Refrigerators. Doorbells. Cars. Bank accounts.

We assumed that connecting something to the internet automatically made it better.

Perhaps we should reconsider.

Before the internet

I remember the world before the internet. It worked pretty well. We managed to buy groceries, pay bills, heat our homes, and generally get through the day without every appliance talking to a computer somewhere.

That doesn't mean abandoning online banking or throwing your smartphone into the sea.

Occhino, for one, isn't particularly worried about hackers wiping out his bank account. Modern banks have sophisticated protections, and he recommends everyone turn on additional login security.

Maybe the cybersecurity crowd, which spends its life immersed in online threats, is missing something obvious.

Not everything needs to be connected.

Occhino put it neatly: "There's certain things that don't make sense to be on the internet in the first place."

Perhaps that's the lesson from this week's panic. We don't need to turn off the internet.

We just need to remember where the off switch is.

Alice Tecotzky contributed reporting.

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