This Week in Data Center News: 12.29.2025

The final week of 2025 highlights a market defined by massive consolidation and record-breaking financial milestones. As the industry moves toward 2026, the focus has shifted to strategic acquisitions by global tech giants and the formalization of reliability standards to support the relentless demand for AI infrastructure

Data center deals hit all-time record of $61 billion

The data center sector has officially entered a period of unprecedented capital flow, with total transaction volume reaching a historic $61 billion in 2025. This record-breaking figure is driven by the massive buildout required for AI, even as some investors express concerns regarding long-term funding models. Despite these concerns, current estimates suggest that demand will continue its upward trajectory, validating the asset class's essential role in the global economy.

• Total data center transaction volume reached a historic peak of $61 billion this year.

• This record spend is attributed to a massive surge in development and acquisition activity as firms scramble to build out capacity for AI workloads.

• Despite some investor concerns regarding the long-term funding of AI, market estimates indicate that demand for new facilities will continue to rise through the coming year.

• For the broader industry, this figure validates the status of data centers as a premier asset class, though it also signals increasing competition for power, land, and capital.

2025 Data Center Investment Comparison

Metric / Project	2025 Market Total	Meta (Fall 2025 Plan)	Oracle/OpenAI "Stargate"
Total Commitment	$61 Billion (Annual Record)	$600 Billion (through 2028)	$500 Billion+ (Multi-year)
2025 Spending	$61 Billion (Deals/Transactions)	$66–$72 Billion (Projected Capex)	$21.2 Billion (Fiscal 2025 Capex)
Key Focus Areas	Acquisitions, Colocation, and Cooling	US AI-ready campuses; workforce development	10GW of total infrastructure; Project Stargate
Notable Site(s)	North Carolina (WhiteFiber)	Louisiana (Hyperion); Ohio (New Albany)	Michigan (Stargate); Texas (Project Jupiter)

SoftBank acquires DigitalBridge in $4 billion AI push

SoftBank has aggressively expanded its footprint in the artificial intelligence sector by acquiring the prominent data center firm DigitalBridge for $4 billion. This acquisition secures critical physical infrastructure for SoftBank's AI roadmap, a move that the market responded to with immediate optimism as DigitalBridge's shares jumped upon the report. For investors and developers, this deal signals a premium on established platforms that can immediately provide the scale required for next-generation computing.

• SoftBank has reached a deal to acquire data center firm DigitalBridge for $4 billion.

• The acquisition is a central component of SoftBank's aggressive push into artificial intelligence, aimed at securing the underlying physical infrastructure necessary for advanced computing.

• DigitalBridge shares saw a significant jump following reports of the acquisition talks.

• For developers and investors, this deal underscores the high premium placed on established data center platforms as hyperscalers and investment groups race to control global compute capacity.

NVIDIA partners with Intel; invests $5 billion in stock

In a major move to stabilize its supply chain and advance product development, NVIDIA has entered a strategic partnership with Intel focused on custom data center and PC products. To solidify this alliance, NVIDIA is investing $5 billion in Intel stock at a set price of $23.28 per share. This collaboration between two industry titans is designed to accelerate the delivery of specialized AI hardware, ensuring that the infrastructure demands of the current "construction frenzy" are met with reliable manufacturing and engineering support.

• NVIDIA has entered into a strategic partnership with Intel to develop custom products for both the PC and data center markets.

• As part of this collaboration, NVIDIA is investing $5 billion in Intel stock at a purchase price of $23.28 per share.

• This partnership marks a significant alignment between two industry leaders to streamline the production of specialized hardware for AI-driven data centers.

• By securing a multi-billion dollar stake and a manufacturing partner, NVIDIA is positioning itself to better manage supply chain volatility and meet the hardware requirements of the "construction frenzy" currently gripping the market.

WhiteFiber completes $865 million North Carolina deal

WhiteFiber has finalized a major $865 million expansion at its flagship North Carolina location, securing 40MW of neocloud space. The deal includes a 10-year colocation agreement, providing long-term stability and high-density capacity in a key regional market. This transaction demonstrates the continued appetite for "neocloud" solutions, which allow tenants to deploy AI-ready workloads quickly without the lead times associated with entirely new ground-up developments.

• Colocation firm WhiteFiber has finalized an $865 million agreement for its flagship facility in North Carolina.

• The deal includes the provision of 40MW of neocloud space and a 10-year colocation contract for the site.

• This transaction highlights the continued importance of the North Carolina market and the growing demand for large-scale, long-term colocation commitments.

• Developers are increasingly utilizing these "neocloud" models to provide flexible, high-density environments for tenants requiring immediate AI-ready capacity.

FranklinWH earns industry-first TIA-942 certification

In a milestone for the energy storage sector, FranklinWH became the first battery storage company to earn the TIA-942 Rated 1-4 certification. This certification is the gold standard for data center reliability, ensuring that the infrastructure can support "always-on" operations. By meeting these rigorous requirements, FranklinWH is bridging the gap between residential/commercial energy storage and the critical uptime demands of the data center industry, offering a new path for resilient, decentralized power.

• FranklinWH has become the first battery storage company to achieve TIA-942 Rated 1-4 certification.

• This is the same rigorous data center standard used to ensure the reliability of "always-on" infrastructure.

• The certification signals a convergence between residential/commercial energy storage and professional data center reliability requirements.

• As data centers face increasing scrutiny over grid stability, the adoption of these standards by storage providers offers a path toward more resilient, decentralized power solutions that can meet high-uptime demands.

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