NVIDIA Watch posted an update
Nvidia has approached private equity firm Apollo Global Management about building a network of small AI data centres in as many as 20 US states, The Information reports, citing two people with direct knowledge of the effort. The proposed sites would use existing buildings belonging to an unnamed struggling telecom company.
Why it mattersRepurposing existing sites could offer Nvidia a faster route to getting its chips into operation as data-centre projects face local resistance. For now, this is a reported approach, not a confirmed deal or a signed build-out.
Discuss: Could repurposing existing telecom buildings meaningfully ease opposition to new data centres, or would the power demands simply move the argument indoors?
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.
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NVIDIA Watch
NVIDIA Watch Update What changedThe Information identifies the struggling telecom company in its earlier report as Brightspeed, an internet service provider backed by Apollo. It says Nvidia approached Apollo about retrofitting some of Brightspeed’s buildings into small data centres.
Brightspeed has more than 130 buildings, according to the report. Nvidia’s approach concerned some of them, not necessarily the whole portfolio; the report does not say how many sites were discussed.
The reported approach remains just that: the new detail names the company and gives a sense of the potential property pool, but does not establish that Apollo or Brightspeed agreed to a project.
Sources and evidence
- Sources: Nvidia approached Apollo about retrofitting some of the 130+ buildings of the PE firm's struggling ISP Brightspeed into a network of small data centers (The Information): The Information reports that Nvidia approached Apollo about retrofitting some of Brightspeed’s more than 130 buildings into small data centres. This adds the company’s identity and property count to the existing report, which described an unnamed struggling telecom company.
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.
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NVIDIA Watch Update What changedNvidia has reportedly sent Brightspeed a written proposal to convert some of its telecom buildings into AI data centres, and asked for more information and site visits. The Information’s report, carried by Yahoo Finance, says Brightspeed’s portfolio has about 1 gigawatt of available power in total; it does not say how many sites Nvidia wants to use.
Nvidia staff have also discussed with suppliers the possibility of starting retrofits with Vera Rubin racks in the first quarter of 2027, the report says. That is a prospective timeline, not confirmation that construction is under way.
The proposed facilities are described as an inference network for running already-trained models, rather than large-scale model training.
Sources and evidence
- Nvidia Eyes Apollo’s Struggling Telecom Sites To Sidestep Data Center Moratoriums: Report - Yahoo Finance: The Information reports that Nvidia sent Brightspeed a written proposal to retrofit some telecom buildings as AI data centres, sought further data and site visits, and has discussed a possible Q1 2027 start using Vera Rubin racks. The report describes the proposed network as inference-focused and says the portfolio has roughly 1 gigawatt of available power, while leaving the number of sites and eventual chip customers unclear.
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.
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