2027 Data Depot: Tracking Next Moves For Campaigns, Audiences Laurie Sullivan Mon, November 9, 2026 at 8:00 AM EST 3 min read GOOG +2.38% MSFT +2.10% Explore stocks on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
The infrastructure landscape for data centers shifted dramatically this week following the U.S. midterm elections, leading to opposing strategies from theindustry's biggest companies.Advertisers may have an important decision to make as the calendar year moves toward 2027 in terms of where to store the massive pools of data generatedby artificial intelligence (AI) and digital ad campaigns.
Technology giants like Google and Microsoft could look for places to bypass land-based restrictions. Whether built as floatingproduction platforms, retrofitted energy rigs, or fully submerged seafloor modules like China's commercial underwater data centers, navigating the choice between freshwater loops, desalination, andpassive ocean contact dictates the platform's overall efficiency and structural survival.
Fractl Co-Founder Kelsey Libert mentioned offshore data centers based on my question about recentpolitical changes that her clients should expect next year. She said marketers need to build a stronger presence across multiple channels, but in Florida where she lives, companies are heavilyinvesting in building the centers on marsh land.
Libert said Fractl focuses on research. Supported by AI, the company is looking into creating agents or "talking heads" as a way toshare important information from brand studies on company sites as well as Facebook, Reddit and YouTube.
"I think the big tech companies will try to build the data centers offshore," shesaid. "They could use the ocean water to cool the systems, and then recycle the water back into the ocean, although it would likely take billions of dollars."
Next year, Fractl willlaunch what Libert called "Fractl agents" that act in ways that are human and conversational, and share information in a video. Video and sharing takes data storage capacity.
In July2026, Seatrium received preliminary designapproval from Bureau Vertias for a floating data center.
Microsoft's Project Natick, introduced in 2016, demonstrated an experiment involving sealed underwater data center, usingsurrounding seawater to cool the system. It published its findings in September 2020.
Google last week announced it would build a data center with carbon capture in Wyoming, for a cost ofabout $17 billion. It contracted with American Electric Power (AEP) to draw power from a 702 MW solid-oxide fuel cell deployment manufactured by Bloom Energy.
The company committed topaying 100% of the data center's direct power consumption and grid upgrade expenses. The project is projected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in local property tax revenue forLaramie County and the local school district.
Last week, Microsoft announced it had pulled out of a data center deal in Texas. It's notclear whether the exit had to do with the political change from Republican to Democrat in the state, but the timing suggested it did.
Microsoft's decision meant pulling out of amultibillion-dollar option to expand its data-center agreement with Nvidia-backed AI cloud provider Nscale in Texas. The option would have more than doubled its computing capacity at the site.
On Friday Reuters reported that protesters broke into the construction site of a Microsoft data center in Amsterdam at the start of two days of rallies signaling growing global backlash overthe build-out of computing power needed for AI.
When did it become acceptable to destroy private property? Activist groups announced actions in 16 countries on Friday and Saturday,according to the "Stop Dirty Data Centres" coalition, which rallies environmental groups and digital rights campaigns behind calls to pause large-scale data-center construction.
Could anindependent company develop and own an offshore data center network, leasing computing space to Amazon, Google, Meta Platform, Microsoft and others?
There are companies with the engineeringknow-how to build these, but some say it is incredibly expensive. The independent company could contract engineering firms like Samsung to build it and then lease the capacity to multiplead-technology companies.
