Data Center Research Hub

The race to the frontier of AI is the arms race of the 21st century. 

With AI at the center of great power competition, compute power has become a decisive axis of competitive advantage. States are racing to develop and deploy AI capabilities that will confer a competitive edge in economic, military and governance domains. Data centers are the critical infrastructure supporting that race, and, accordingly, are the modern backbone of national security. 

A nation’s power is increasingly measured in compute, and compute lives in data centers. At the National Security Institute (NSI), we are tracking that ecosystem and all of its dynamics from multiple angles. NSI is developing tools and conducting research to map and continuously track that ecosystem, delving into its present status, limiting factors, and relative strength on the global stage. Our ongoing projects are made in cooperation with government, industry, academia, and the public.

Data Center Ecosystem Tracker  

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Our interactive dashboard synthesizes and tracks data on more than 1,600 U.S. data centers and the material resources that support them, mapping facilities alongside power, water, land, legislation, and local opposition. Designed as a living tool, it lets users explore the ecosystem nationally and at finer scales, and is updated as new facilities, policies, and community responses emerge. 

Data Center Opinion Monitor

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In a complementary component, our public opinion research tracks an additional critical resource: the American public’s support. As data centers expand their footprint across the country, they are gaining millions of new neighbors: the everyday Americans who live in the communities around them. Those neighbors are increasingly skeptical, and local opposition is crystallizing into blockers on data center buildouts in the form of moratoriums, data center bans, and votes that shut down building sites. It is increasingly undeniable that the US will not be able to sustain its edge in AI without the democratic support of its people, and we are tracking the size, shape and scope of that support as it evolves.  

NSI Data Center Research in the Media