Former crypto-mining company building 430 MW datacenter in secret location for secret client

Crypto miner turned AI infrastructure provider Applied Digital announced it has broken ground on a 430 MW data center somewhere in the southern US, but it isn’t yet ready to reveal the location of its new facility.

The company has faced negative reactions to past projects. In Harwood, North Dakota, locals opposed the company’s plans to build a data center campus. Another of the company’s projects, in Ellendale, Colorado, also attracted attention – not all of it positive.

Applied Digital CEO Wes Cummins told The Register the decision not to name its new location is to give the town time to gird for national media attention.

“We’re not trying to hide anything,” he said. “You go to some of these small locations … It’s not like these towns have really sophisticated public communications departments with people that handle all of this. It’s really a sensitivity for ...