The data center boom is running into serious real-world obstacles, from widespread local opposition and permitting delays to a scramble for electricity. Before those challenges even come into play, though, there’s a more basic problem: A lot of the projects being announced may never get built in the first place. With billions of dollars in AI infrastructure investment at stake, separating realistic projects from speculative ones is becoming increasingly important.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Rebecca Bellan and Tim De Chant are joined by Brent Nelson, senior managing director of markets and strategy at Ascend Analytics, to separate the data center projects that are likely to get built from the ones that may never get off the ground.

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
2:20 Will the midterms and data center backlash slow the buildout?
5:33 Announced vs. actually built: the speculation problem
10:01 Who’s lending, and why tenants matter most
14:59 Powering data centers: why everyone defaults to gas
18:44 The case for curtailable interconnections plus batteries
20:09 Why the grid can’t just move power around
24:46 Can data centers pay their way out of opposition?
27:22 What founders and investors shouldn’t assume
29:31 Permitting reform and the lame-duck window
31:17 Outro

Democrats’ historic victories in this week’s U.S. midterm elections could also transform the tech industry.

The public voted on 41 data center-related ballot measures on Tuesday — in all but one, the majority voted to impose more restrictions on data center development. And even when data centers weren’t on the ballot directly, they were a major talking point, with newly-elected Democratic governors and congressmembers likely to support additional regulation.

On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane, and Anthony Ha discuss what the election will mean for the tech industry moving forward — not just when it comes to data centers (which OpenAI is already trying to rebrand), but also increased government scrutiny of Big Tech.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about:

• Whether Google first satellite data center is ushering our orbital data center future
• If major layoffs at design software company Canva and website builder Squarespace can be blamed on AI
• Marvell’s $115 billion acquisition of Lumentum, in one of the largest deals in history
• Why CrowdStrike just acquired of two AI security startups
What NBCUniversal’s investment in Indian microdrama startup Elo • Elo means for the media landscape

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and all the casts. You can also follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

0:47 Founder Summit recap and an Equity team update

2:23 Midterm results and the data center backlash

7:49 OpenAI rebrands data centers as “compute campuses”

10:57 Wall Street cools on the data center buildout

13:30 Regulatory certainty and building outside the U.S.

15:45 Canva and Squarespace layoffs

20:37 Can AI chatbots replace products like Squarespace?

23:22 Marvell’s $115B Lumentum acquisition

26:51 CrowdStrike buys Fiddler AI and Dreadnode

30:20 Micro drama startup raises $80M

30:59 Outro

Women and non-binary investors have doubled their share of partner seats at U.S. venture firms in less than a decade. But a title doesn’t always come with power.

In this episode of Build Mode () , host Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Paige Hendrix Buckner, CEO of All Raise, a national nonprofit helping women and non-binary venture capitalists grow their power and influence.

Paige shares how the share of women and non-binary people in partner-plus roles at U.S. VC firms grew from 9% to 18.8%, and why All Raise is now focused on a new measurement. She explains why a partner title doesn’t guarantee check-writing authority, board seats, carry, or credit for deals, and how the attribution gap makes it harder for investors to build the track record they need to raise their own funds.

They get into:

•

What All Raise does and its strategy of community, data, and “lore”

•

The attribution gap and why credit for deals matters

•

Why sponsorship can make or break an investor’s career

•

Why more women are leaving to start their own funds

•

How diverse VC firms change which founders get funded

•

What the $124 trillion wealth transfer could mean for women LPs

•

What good firm building looks like, from LP relationships to brand

•

How AI is helping emerging managers run lean firms

•

The different paths into a venture career

Subscribe to Build Mode on Apple Podcasts () , Spotify () , or wherever you like to listen () . And watch the full videos on YouTube () . New episodes of Build Mode () drop every Thursday.

Hosted by Isabelle Johannesen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.