Sarah: Japan wants another giant data-center buildout.
Sarah: The calendar may have other ideas.
Sarah: This is The Data Center Daily.
Sarah: Today: Japan’s capacity clock, Oracle’s new debt terms, and whether Loudoun County can legally hit pause.
Matt: Three fights, same basic question: who gets to say yes—and who’s stuck carrying the bill when they don’t.
Sarah: Bloomberg writes:
Quote: NTT Data Group Corp.
Quote: expects to spend at least $9 billion through 2033 to quadruple computing capacity to 1 gigawatt, addressing a surge in demand in Japan.
Quote: The country’s biggest data center operator
Quote: which is owned by government-backed NTT Inc.
Quote: intends to add roughly 750 megawatts of capacity over the next seven years.
Matt: NTT Data is talking $9.6 billion for 750 megawatts through 2033—and only 42 megawatts actually gets added this year.
Matt: Seven years is a long time to keep calling 100 megawatts of AI demand a buildout.
Sarah: The near-term marker is concrete: a 100-megawatt Tochigi facility starts construction next year, north of Tokyo.
Sarah: But the ¥2 billion to ¥2.5 billion per-megawatt estimate excludes Nvidia accelerators
Sarah: so the headline capex has a pretty expensive asterisk.
Matt: Exactly. Construction and equipment are one bill.
Matt: GPUs are another. Then there’s power delivery—its own unpleasant conversation.
Matt: Everybody loves a one-gigawatt target until somebody has to energize it.
Sarah: Still, credit where it’s due: the plan puts $9.6 billion toward one gigawatt by 2033.
Sarah: That is more useful than a glossy AI campus rendering with no megawatts attached.
Sarah: This one's from CRE Daily:
Quote: Pimco, one of the world’s largest asset managers, is building a stronger position in AI-driven data center financing.
Quote: Bloomberg reports the firm recently anchored debt for Oracle’s $16B data center campus in Saline, Michigan.
Quote: However, Pimco first secured bond terms that matched its risk strategy.
Sarah: Pimco anchored Oracle’s $16 billion Saline campus financing with debt that runs alongside Oracle’s lease term.
Sarah: Bank of America and the sponsors preferred cheaper, shorter-term paper; Pimco got the maturity and covenants it wanted.
Matt: Good. A 19-year, 1.4-gigawatt DTE supply agreement helps support a project, but it doesn’t make the financing risk disappear.
Matt: Pimco looked at this thing and said, “Fine—then our money stays protected for the whole ride.”
Sarah: And Dan Ivascyn personally approves every AI infrastructure deal at a firm managing $2.3 trillion.
Sarah: That tells the market the Oracle template is financeable—but only once the borrower accepts lender-grade discipline.
Sarah: Apparently “AI” is no longer sufficient collateral.
Sarah: Here's Emily Wishingrad at Bisnow:
Quote: The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors last month approved a motion directing county staff to present an item at its Sept.
Quote: 15 meeting that would establish a pause along with a legal analysis from the county’s attorney.
Matt: Loudoun already has 53 million square feet built, another 40 million in the pipeline, and now wants to pause new applications.
Matt: Fine—put a date on the pause, define what it covers, and prepare for every developer with land and a lawyer to show up.
Sarah: Sept. 15 is the date that matters.
Sarah: The board told staff to bring both a pause proposal and the county attorney's legal analysis
Sarah: because Virginia's Dillon's Rule may leave Loudoun without authority to impose one.
Sarah: A moratorium that needs permission to exist is a fairly material detail.
Matt: And the county's trying to put the brakes on an industry that delivered $875 million in 2024 taxes—38% of its general fund revenue.
Matt: Residents see construction and grid strain; the budget sees a giant check with server racks on it.
Sarah: We just saw capital demand tighter terms from Oracle's Michigan build.
Sarah: Now Loudoun brings in the land-use constraint: even with financing lined up
Sarah: a developer could still be waiting on a county vote that may not survive legal review.
Host: If you’re tracking the tech and policy reshaping data centers, check out Anthropic Pentagon Watch.
Host: It’s a daily briefing on Anthropic’s fight with the DoD over Claude, military AI use, autonomous weapons, and AI procurement blacklisting.
Host: Find it wherever you listen to podcasts.
Host: We’re watching Sept.
Host: 15, when Loudoun County staff are set to present a proposed development pause and legal analysis to the Board of Supervisors.
Host: You’ll find links to every story in the show notes if you want to dig deeper.
Host: That’s The Data Center Daily for today.
Host: This is a Lantern Podcast.