Google Bets $17bn On Wyoming

Google’s planned $17 billion data centre campus in Wyoming, Dropbox’s $350 million acquisition of Tigris Data and Meta’s takeover of Conductor illustrate three different ways technology companies are positioning themselves for the growth of artificial intelligence.

The deals span physical infrastructure, cloud storage and AI-powered software development. But they also raise questions about energy supply, infrastructure costs, data ownership and what happens to customers when a technology company changes hands.

Wyoming: Google’s $17bn infrastructure bet

Google plans to invest approximately $17 billion in Project Tembo, its first data centre campus in Wyoming, located in south Laramie County.

The proposed energy supply includes a 702-megawatt fuel-cell power plant developed with American Electric Power using Bloom Energy technology. Additional gas-fired power would come from Tallgrass Energy and Black Hills.

Carbon dioxide generated through power production would be captured and stored underground at Tallgrass’s East Wyoming Storage Hub. Google also says the facility will use air cooling to reduce water consumption.

The company says it will cover the full cost of electricity and the infrastructure required to supply the campus. It estimates the project will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax revenue for Laramie County and its school district.

Construction could create approximately 2,500 jobs at its peak, according to one report.

“We are committed to working with the community to build the data center the right way,” said Steve Waller, Google’s vice president of global infrastructure and energy.

The project could give the county a significant new source of tax revenue, but its energy and environmental arrangements will be important to its long-term impact.

Timelines reported for the project differ. One account points to full operations by the end of 2028, while another expects initial operations in the second half of 2028 and full completion in the first half of 2031. Google has yet to confirm a definitive completion schedule.

Dropbox: a move into AI infrastructure

Dropbox is acquiring Tigris Data, a Sunnyvale-based object-storage company whose platform operates across multiple public clouds, for $350 million.

The acquisition accompanies the launch of DBX Agent Cloud, Dropbox’s first AI infrastructure product. The platform offers S3-compatible storage designed to support AI agents and their applications.

Tigris says its architecture allows applications to read and write data several times faster than competing services. The approach is intended to support the demands of AI agents, which need to access and process large volumes of information while carrying out tasks.

The acquisition extends Dropbox beyond its traditional file-sharing and collaboration business into infrastructure designed for AI workloads.

The companies have not disclosed a closing date for the transaction or provided details about Tigris’s customer base.

Meta and Conductor: users face a shutdown deadline

Meta has acquired Conductor, a Mac application that allows developers to run multiple AI coding agents simultaneously. The startup announced on November 4 that it was joining Meta, without disclosing the financial terms.

Conductor says more than 100,000 developers use its platform. However, the acquisition comes with immediate changes for existing customers, who have limited time to retrieve their work.

Cloud workspaces will become read-only on November 13, while Conductor Cloud will shut down on November 20. The company says user data deletion will begin when the service closes and has advised customers to export their work before the deadline.

Conductor says it has never sold user data or used it to train AI models. Its Mac application will continue receiving new model support and critical fixes until early 2027.

Founder Charlie Holtz said the team was working on a “next interface” and hoped to release something in early 2027, but did not provide further details.

What remains undisclosed

The three transactions leave important questions unanswered.

Meta has not disclosed how much it paid for Conductor or how it intends to use the company’s technology. Dropbox has announced a $350 million purchase price, but has not provided further financial details or a completion date.

For Google’s Wyoming project, the proposed fuel-cell power supply and underground carbon storage arrangements will require closer scrutiny as development progresses. The available reports do not establish whether the relevant regulatory approvals have been secured or whether independent engineering assessments have verified the project’s energy and carbon-storage claims.

For now, the three moves show how the AI infrastructure race is expanding beyond the companies building AI models. It is increasingly shaping investment in energy, data storage and the tools developers use to build software.