Chris Pickles is the SVP and Managing Director of CrimsonXT, and has a wealth of experience recruiting across the tech industry. Putting his industry expertise to use, he recently produced the “Data Center Download” – a bi-weekly news roundup, that explores the latest funding, collaborations, product updates and funding news from cutting-edge data center companies across the US, Europe and APAC.

In this episode, we dive into the substantial increase of professionals across the industry globally, and the latest funding news across the market.

 

 

Welcome back to the Data Center Download – In this series, I explore the latest funding, collaborations, product updates and funding news from cutting-edge data centre companies across the US, Europe and APAC, and the most sought-after skills within the industry from the data center giants.

Looking at LinkedIn Talent Insights, there’s a dynamic landscape in the global data centre industry for professionals skilled in AI. Currently, there are 572,216 such professionals, marking a substantial 76% increase in this talent pool in the past 12 months alone. This growth is further reflected in the career mobility observed within the sector, with 151,603 professionals having changed jobs, and the market actively responding to this talent surge through 18,260 job postings.

 

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Latest news:

Nokia has completed its $2.3 billion acquisition of optical networking provider Infinera as the Finnish firm looks to strengthen its presence in the data centre market.

Principal Asset Management has closed its latest dedicated data center investment fund. The new fund, dedicated to the development of a portfolio of hyperscale data center projects across the US, raised $3.64 billion. This is the third discretionary data center-focused vehicle by Principal.

Drax Energy Solutions is in talks with data center firms as an investment in carbon capture technology slows down. Drax is exploring the possibility of using two of its four energy-generating units to provide power to data centers, in line with the UK Government’s efforts to promote the growth of AI.

TikTok will invest $8.8 billion in data centers in Thailand over the next five years. The company’s VP of public policy Helena L. announced the investment commitment at an event in Bangkok late last month.

Cordiant Digital Infrastructure (CORD) has completed the acquisition of a 47.5% economic interest in DCU Invest NV (Datacenter United). The deal coincides with DCU Invest’s acquisition of the entire share capital of Datacenter United Brussels NV, the parent company of Proximus Group’s data centre arm.

Arjun Infrastructure Partners is set to take a minority stake in data center operator Data4 Group, it has been reported.

NTT DATA has signed a partnership with the Holy See (Vatican) to support its activities in Japan.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted €350 million ($363m) in funding to the Italian telecoms infrastructure company Infrastructure Wireless Italiane (Inwit).

Skylo has secured $30 million in funding. Parthsarathi Trivedi, CEO and co-founder of Skylo, said: “Skylo’s mission is to drive extreme accessibility of connectivity for cellular devices worldwide. Skylo is synonymous with anywhere connectivity for all, and this new funding allows us to enhance our market reach even farther and faster.”

Earlier this year, Meta said that it would spend around $65 billion on data centers and other capital expenditures in 2025. The company plans to bring a gigawatt of compute online this year, and is building a $10bn data center in Louisiana that could grow to 2GW.

Power and cooling company Modine Manufacturing Company has been awarded a $180 million contract for ‘Airedale by Modine’ cooling systems from a new AI infrastructure customer.

Digital Land & Development, working in partnership with landowner Peel Waters, has secured consent to erect a 66,300 sq ft data centre at the former White’s reclamation site off Liverpool Road.

Stack Infrastructure and real estate developer Silver Companies are planning a $10 billion data center in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang unveiled an ambitious plan to build a hyperscale artificial intelligence data center in collaboration with global big tech firms. Speaking at a press conference in Barcelona on Sunday, Ryu said that the facility will house 60,000 graphics processing units with a power consumption capacity of 100 megawatts, aiming to become key infrastructure for the company’s AI strategy.

 

 

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