Aggregator

Here Come The Cancellations: Brookfield-Backed Compass Pulls Out From Major Northern Virginia Data Center Project

Compass Datacenters has decided to withdraw from its plan to develop a major data-center corridor in Northern Virginia after spending years pursuing approvals and investing tens of millions of dollars, according to Bloomberg.

The company ultimately concluded the project wasn’t feasible due to mounting legal challenges, stricter regulations, and weakening political support, particularly around tax incentives.

This move highlights a broader shift in how communities and policymakers are responding to data-center projects. Local residents have increasingly raised concerns about issues like energy consumption, environmental impact, and potential effects on property values. As a result, companies in the industry are finding it more difficult, expensive, and time-consuming to gain approval for new developments.

Bloomberg writes that the proposed project was part of a larger effort to expand Northern Virginia’s role as a global hub for data centers. However, conflicts over land use, public notice procedures, and zoning approvals led to court rulings that invalidated key permissions. Faced with the prospect of prolonged legal battles and uncertain outcomes, Compass chose to step back.

The situation also reflects growing political sensitivity around how much support these developments should receive. Debates over tax breaks and incentives have made officials more cautious, while organized community opposition has become more influential in shaping decisions. Together, these pressures are forcing companies to rethink where and how they expand.

Meanwhile, another developer involved in the broader plan is still considering whether to continue challenging the rulings, showing that while some companies are retreating, others may continue pushing forward despite the growing resistance.

Recall days ago we wrote that half of US data centers scheduled for 2026 would be cancelled or delayed. We wrote then that the outlook for the US AI revolution looks increasingly more dim. 

That's because, as Canaccord Genuity analyst George Gianarikas writes, "the American data center boom is hitting a formidable wall of logistical friction." He is referring to the latest outlook by Sightline Climate, which is also reinforced by recent articles from Bloomberg and others, and reveals a sobering reality for 2026: nearly half of the nation's planned 16-gigawatt capacity faces cancellation or delay, with only 5 gigawatts currently under construction.

This inertia stems from a volatile mix of local permitting hurdles, community resistance, and a desperate reliance on overextended global supply chains for critical components like transformers and helium.

That's right: half.

That's right: despite $700BN+ of expected 2026 hyperscaler capex, nearly half of the data centers scheduled to begin operations in the US in 2026 "will either face delays or outright cancellations."

The data, which comes from Sightline Climate's 2026 Data Center Outlook,  suggests that just 30% - 50% of the ~16 GW of planned US capacity for the year will face risks, with only ~5 GW currently under construction!

By 2027, the gap between ambition and reality widens further, as a mere fraction of the announced 21.5 gigawatts has actually broken ground. Worse, according to Futurism, data centers slated to open in 2027 are progressing far more slowly than anticipated. "Only about 6.3 gigawatts worth of computing infrastructure are actually under construction, compared to 21.5 announced gigawatts."

And then visibility drops to virtually nothing beyond 2028 as uncertainty increases materially in the outer years. According to the article, "things get even dodgier in the coming years, with the vast majority of data centers planned for launch between 2028 and 2032 having yet to even break ground. There are a further 37 gigawatts of planned infrastructure which haven’t even received a firm completion date, only 4.5 [gigawatts] of which have actually begun work."

This trend suggests an increasingly uncertain future for the industry, where power constraints and grid instability cast long shadows over projects slated through 2032.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/30/2026 - 19:40

A teen has been charged with making hoax active shooter reports at numerous universities last year — including a terrifying incident at Villanova University that left students fleeing during Orientation Mass.

Harvey Weinstein accuser Jessica Mann gushed about how "easy" it was to "love" the disgraced ex-Hollywood bigwig — just two days after he allegedly raped her, according to a note introduced at his trial.

Steve Cohen, or David Stearns with the blessing of the Mets owner, needs to fire Carlos Mendoza or provide a no-wiggle-room vote of confidence.

He allowed 20 runs (16 earned) in 20 innings and cost the Mets several games.

Cora could actually become a Phillies candidate for 2027.

“I think I’m the one person I would trust with that vow,” Locket said about saying “I do” to herself.

The players arrive fundamentally bereft, yet even spring training is wasted on trying to impress by swinging hard and throwing harder. 

CCP Moves To Tighten Oversight Of Gig Workers

Authored by Michael Zhuang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Beijing is moving to tighten its grip on tens of millions of gig workers—an increasingly vital but volatile segment of China’s labor force—prompting warnings from analysts that the effort could deepen social tensions rather than contain them.

Delivery workers from Chinese shopping platform Meituan gather for a briefing before they start their shift near a mall in Beijing on Aug. 21, 2025. Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images

On April 26, China’s top leadership bodies, the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the State Council, released new guidelines via Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency, calling for stronger management of what the CCP describes as the country’s “new employment groups.”

The directive, while only now made public, is dated Oct. 29 last year. It calls for increased adherence to Xi Jinping’s political doctrine and urges workers to “listen to and follow the Party.”

Using vague language, it also mentions plans for “a working mechanism characterized by top-to-bottom coordination” by the year 2027, with further objectives coming within another three to five years, including that “ideological and political guidance will be more forceful.”

The move comes as Beijing seeks to assert tighter control over the fast-growing gig workforce that now numbers about 84 million people—roughly one-fifth of China’s employed population—according to a February analysis in “Qiushi,” a CCP propaganda magazine.

Vast, Hard-to-Control Workforce

China defines “new employment groups” as workers that are engaged in flexible, platform-based jobs tied to the digital economy. They include food delivery riders, couriers, ride-hailing drivers, e-commerce workers, and livestream hosts, many of whom are young job seekers drawn by low barriers to entry but who face long hours, unstable incomes, and limited labor protections.

The category overlaps with China’s broader concept of flexible employment, which includes part-time workers and the self-employed. By 2025, officials estimated that more than 200 million people fell into that broader grouping, according to state media Xinhua News Agency.

Despite their size, these workers often lack access to social benefits and operate outside traditional labor structures, making them difficult to organize and, from the CCP’s perspective, difficult to control, according to U.S.-based China current affairs commentator Wang He.

Wang told The Epoch Times the new directive reflects mounting concern within the CCP about the political risks posed by this group. He said the policy is about extending state control.

“The CCP sees this [as a segment of the workforce] that cannot be allowed to drift beyond Party oversight,” he said. “The priority is political control.”

Wang said that in recent years, China has already expanded surveillance systems and grassroots governance networks. The latest policy signals an effort to integrate gig workers more fully into that framework, while reinforcing the Party’s authority over both society and the government.

“This group is young, mobile, and highly connected through the internet,” he said. “Their ability to voice grievances is stronger than many other groups.”

Signs of Discontent

Incidents over the past year have underscored those concerns.

In December, hundreds of delivery riders in Changsha, China, gathered to protest restrictions on access to a residential compound. Videos circulating online showed one participant dressed in a yellow cape, prompting a heavy police response.

More recently, from late March to early April, delivery workers in Chongqing, China, staged a multi-day strike, protesting falling pay rates and what they described as exploitative platform practices.

Such episodes, while localized, have raised alarms among some experts about the potential for broader unrest.

Xu Zhen, a senior professional in China’s capital markets, told The Epoch Times that disputes involving delivery workers have increasingly become flashpoints for social instability.

“The CCP is trying to consolidate various tools of social control, through Party branches in platform companies and even intervention in algorithms,” he said. “But it’s not clear these measures will work.”

The official guidelines also promised better services and legal protections for gig workers, including efforts to solve “practical difficulties” and “enhance ideological and political work.”

Critics say such language is often more rhetorical than substantive.

Wang said the promise to protect rights and provide services is largely a façade.

In practice, many gig workers struggle to access social insurance or other benefits, leaving them effectively marginalized within China’s labor system, according to Wang. Local governments, already under fiscal strain, may lack the resources—or the incentive—to expand support.

Expanding Party Reach

The policy also reflects a broader institutional shift.

In 2023, Beijing established a new Central Social Work Department tasked with strengthening social stability and expanding CCP influence across a wide range of sectors, from industry associations to private enterprises and grassroots organizations.

Earlier this month, the CCP also announced a campaign via Chinese state media People’s Daily targeting industry associations, again stressing the need for stronger party leadership.

Taken together, Wang said the measures point to a deepening emphasis on control amid economic uncertainty and rising social pressures, raising questions about whether tighter oversight will ensure stability or fuel further discontent.

Ning Haizhong and Luo Ya contributed to this report. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/30/2026 - 19:15

Aaron Judge has some stiff competition early on for the 2026 American League MVP award. 

Jay Taveras, 27, was charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident in the early-morning crash that killed Thomas Dunlea, 58, in late December of 2021, according to authorities.

It's cheaper and faster to collect people's opinions using AI, but will it make polls more accurate?

A video from San Francisco showed the frightening zombie-like state of drug addicts in the once-shinning downtown portion of the city by the Bay.

Call me crazy, but the Mets' only chance — small as it is — to fix their sinking season is to find better players.

While this latest injury ate up nearly half his season, Edstrom was also a healthy scratch in the final 11 games. 

Sales of the iPhone, still the company’s best-selling product nearly 20 years after its introduction, were $56.99 billion.

In New York Magazine, Mahmoud Khalil delivers a masterclass in self-pity while detailing the plight of merely existing in the Big Apple.

Youth voter registration and turnout surged in New York City last year -- but it remains to be seen if the boom that fueled Mayor Zohran Mamdani's election will have staying power.

The Maritime Freedom Construct is meant to be a diplomatic and military push to work with allied countries and shipping companies to help reopen the vital waterway.

“The theft ring was as brazen as it was effective,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a Thursday press conference.