Salesforce to Open 1st AI Center in London

FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Salesforce.com is displayed on the Salesforce Tower in New York City, US, March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Salesforce.com is displayed on the Salesforce Tower in New York City, US, March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
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Salesforce to Open 1st AI Center in London

FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Salesforce.com is displayed on the Salesforce Tower in New York City, US, March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Salesforce.com is displayed on the Salesforce Tower in New York City, US, March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Salesforce has picked London for its first AI center, where it said industry experts, developers and customers will be able to collaborate on innovation and develop new skills.
The US cloud software company, which is hosting 18,000 people at its annual London World Tour event on Thursday, said a year ago it would invest $4 billion in Britain in the next five years, including in artificial intelligence innovation.
Zahra Bahrololoumi, chief executive of Salesforce UK and Ireland, said the company's customers were excited about the benefits of AI, but were cautious about the emerging risks.
"No company will adopt AI unless they can trust it, which is why we are so well positioned," she told Reuters, pointing to Salesforce's Einstein technology, which has a "Trust Layer" to ensure customers' data is not compromised.
"We are sending a clear message to customers and partners on AI, we are deeply committed to working closely together so that you can reap the rewards of this transformative technology, while ensuring it is a force for good," she said.



Microsoft Deal Signals Booming Demand from Data Centers to Power AI

General view of Microsoft Corporation headquarters at Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France, April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo
General view of Microsoft Corporation headquarters at Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France, April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo
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Microsoft Deal Signals Booming Demand from Data Centers to Power AI

General view of Microsoft Corporation headquarters at Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France, April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo
General view of Microsoft Corporation headquarters at Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France, April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo

US utilities are finally signing concrete supply deals with data-center operators as the artificial-intelligence wave sparks a surge in power demand, paving the way for higher profits in the coming quarters.

Data centers are expected to account for 8% of the power generated in the US by 2030, compared with 3% in 2022, according to a Goldman Sachs report in May.

Here are some deals announced by utilities in 2024, according to Reuters.

Constellation Energy signed an exclusive deal with Microsoft to restart one of the units at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.

Under the agreement, the utility will provide 835 megawatts (MW) of energy to the tech giant's data centers. The deal would also mark the first ever restart of a nuclear power plant in the US after it was shut down.

Ameren signed a supply deal with a data center with a power capacity of 250 megawatt (MW). It has also received expansion commitments and executed new contracts for more 85 MW of additional load for smaller data centers and other industries across Missouri and Illinois.

Alliant Energy said it has executed multiple power supply deals with data centers, but did not disclose details.

Exelon said it is in the engineering phase for more than 5 GW of data center capacity. Some data-center customers have also made deposits for ComEd - Exelon's subsidiary - to order transmission and breakers, the firm said during a post-earnings call.

American Electric Power signed letters of intent to power an additional 15 GW of data centers by the end of the decade.

Xcel Energy will supply power to Meta Platforms' data center in Minnesota, expected to come online in late summer 2025.

Entergy has received legislative approval for investment in transmission and generation to serve Amazon's upcoming Amazon Web Services (AWS) facility in Mississippi. Pinnacle West Capital has more than 4,000 MW of committed data center customers, not including the backlog of more than 10,000 data center requests it has received.

AES signed an agreement with Google for 310 megawatts to support its Ohio data centers.

It further expanded a previously announced partnership with Google and signed a 15-year power purchase agreement for 727 megawatts in Texas. Talen Energy announced a deal to supply electricity and its 960-megawatt data center campus to Amazon's AWS in Pennsylvania.

NextEra's renewables segment saw a rise of 3 gigawatts (GW) worth of renewables and storage projects in second quarter, including Google's 860 megawatts (MW) demand for its data center power.