In the data center capital of the world, residents ask who the AI boom is helpingThe data center footprint in Loudoun County has more than doubled in the last five years, covering over 53 million square feet.Cooling vent fans on the roof of a Digital Realty data center in Ashburn, Va., in November. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images fileJuly 23, 2026, 7:50 AM EDTSTERLING, Va. — When Hari Doue’s 9-year-old twins have tried to sleep in their suburban Virginia home, something has been keeping the boys awake: a “high-pitched whining” sound that wasn’t there before. The sound is generated by the data center that was built nearby.Just a moment.We are getting your experience ready.
In the data center capital of the world, residents ask who the AI boom is helping
The data center footprint in Loudoun County has more than doubled in the last five years, covering over 53 million square feet.
TL;DRAI
Loudoun County data centers doubled in five years to over 53M sq ft, establishing the core AI infrastructure hub. This expansion reveals cooling and power constraints shaping hyperscaler capex decisions and forcing geographic redundancy in compute strategies.
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