One year after Donald Trump's inauguration as US president, the tech industry leaders who aligned with him have seen substantial gains. Trump has directed billions in government funding toward tech companies and included their CEOs in high-stakes diplomatic negotiations. As his second term begins, Silicon Valley's titans appear poised to further enrich themselves with presidential support.
Trump has expressed concern about the impact of data centres on US electricity costs. On 13 January, he and Microsoft's president announced that the tech giant would pay full property taxes and forgo electricity discounts for its data centres. Trump stated on Truth Social: 'We are the ‘HOTTEST’ Country in the World, and Number One in AI. Data Centers are key to that boom... but, the big Technology Companies who build them must ‘pay their own way.’'
On 17 January, Trump and northeastern US governors directed the largest power grid operator to hold an emergency reliability auction by September, potentially forcing tech firms to fund new power plants. Trump said: 'I never want Americans to pay higher Electricity bills because of Data Centers.' However, experts doubt his promise to halve electricity bills, as his administration blocks renewable projects and promotes fossil fuels, which may raise costs.
In Europe, governments face similar constraints. Germany, with the highest number of data centres in Europe, sees high energy prices limiting growth. Chancellor Friedrich Merz, like Trump, supports expanding energy infrastructure to meet demand.
Meanwhile, the US Environmental Protection Agency ruled on 16 January that Elon Musk's xAI illegally operated methane-powered generators at its Memphis data centre. This sets a precedent that tech companies cannot simply use backup generators but must purchase nuclear power plants, as Meta, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have done.
