In a bold move that underscores the global race for artificial intelligence (AI) supremacy, the digital asset firm Galaxy has secured a staggering $1.4 billion in funding to expand its Helios data center in West Texas. Announced on August 15, 2025, this massive investment aims to supercharge the site’s capabilities for AI and high-performance computing (HPC), according to CoinDesk. The financing, which covers 80% of the construction costs and runs for 36 months, will fund both the retrofit and the expansion of the facility. Galaxy itself has already contributed $350 million in equity, demonstrating its commitment to leading the charge in the next wave of technological infrastructure.
This deal is more than just another data center upgrade. It’s part of a sweeping trend as tech giants and digital asset firms scramble to secure the computing power and physical resources needed to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. The Helios expansion follows a long-term lease agreement with AI cloud provider CoreWeave, which has now committed to utilizing all 800 megawatts of approved power capacity at the site. The first phase of the project is set to deliver power to CoreWeave’s operations in early 2026, under a contract that could prove transformative for both companies.
Galaxy’s founder and CEO, Mike Novogratz, emphasized the potential of the partnership, projecting that the CoreWeave deal could generate more than $1 billion in average annual revenue over the next 15 years. While that’s an eye-popping figure, it’s not out of step with the scale of investment and ambition now common in the data center sector—especially as AI models become more sophisticated and resource-hungry. However, investors seemed momentarily cautious, as Galaxy’s shares dipped by 2.2% in early trading on the day of the announcement, mirroring a broader market pullback.
It’s not just Galaxy making waves. The sector is seeing a flurry of high-stakes deals and strategic pivots. For example, TeraWulf, a company that once focused on bitcoin mining, recently soared over 50% in value after signing a 10-year, $3.7 billion AI hosting contract with Fluidstack and Google. Notably, Google took an 8% stake in TeraWulf, signaling just how serious major tech players are about locking in access to data center resources for AI development. According to a July 2025 report from Jefferies, two-thirds of Galaxy’s total value could soon be attributed to its data center business—a stunning shift for a company once known primarily for its crypto trading and asset management operations.
The United States isn’t alone in this arms race. Across the Atlantic, the United Kingdom is experiencing a similar boom. As reported by the BBC and TechRadar Pro, the UK currently hosts 477 data centers, with approximately 100 more in the pipeline. The surge is driven by the explosive demand for AI capabilities, and much of the funding comes from US tech giants eager to expand their global footprint. In fact, UK data centers have received around £6.3 billion from foreign firms, a testament to how international the competition for AI infrastructure has become.
But with great power comes great responsibility—or at least, significant challenges. Data centers are notorious for their colossal consumption of energy and water. A medium-sized center typically uses about 110 million gallons of water per year just for cooling. The largest facilities can gulp down up to 5 million gallons a day. These staggering figures have real-world consequences. In parts of the US, communities living near data centers have lost access to clean drinking water as local wells are depleted, and some residents have seen their energy bills spike due to the centers’ immense electricity usage.
While the UK government has designated data centers as critical national infrastructure—granting them advanced protections—it has also had to confront the environmental fallout. Alongside the latest wave of construction, officials have published guidance on how to address the country’s ‘nationally significant’ water shortfall. The advice? Citizens are urged to take shorter showers, refrain from watering their grass, and even delete old emails to reduce digital storage needs. It’s a somewhat startling juxtaposition: as the government champions the cause of ‘unlocking AI’ to boost productivity and economic growth, it’s also asking ordinary people to bear some of the environmental cost.
“Unlocking AI” has indeed become a priority for British policymakers, who see the technology as key to boosting national productivity and maintaining a competitive edge. Yet, as TechRadar Pro notes, the environmental toll is likely to fall most heavily on everyday citizens. This tension isn’t unique to the UK. In the US, the race to build bigger and better data centers has sparked debates about resource allocation, utility regulation, and the long-term sustainability of AI-driven growth.
The financial stakes are enormous. For Galaxy, the Helios expansion and its partnership with CoreWeave represent a bet that the hunger for AI compute power will only intensify in the coming years. The projected $1 billion in annual revenue from the CoreWeave deal, if realized, would fundamentally alter the company’s balance sheet. It also signals a broader shift in the digital asset sector, where firms once focused on cryptocurrency are now diversifying into the infrastructure that will power the next generation of technology.
Meanwhile, the environmental questions loom large. As data centers proliferate—from the Texas plains to the English countryside—communities and governments are grappling with how to balance technological progress with the need to protect vital resources. The UK government’s recent drought advice is a clear sign that the issue isn’t going away, and similar conversations are playing out in statehouses and city councils across the US and elsewhere.
Looking ahead, the intersection of AI, business, and environmental stewardship will only become more complex. The push for ever-greater computational power is unlikely to slow, given the pace of AI innovation and the economic incentives at play. But as the stories of Galaxy, TeraWulf, and the UK’s data center boom make clear, the true cost of the AI revolution is about more than just dollars, pounds, or euros—it’s also about water, energy, and the communities living in the shadows of these digital fortresses.
The coming years will test the ingenuity of both industry leaders and policymakers as they strive to harness the benefits of AI while minimizing its environmental footprint. For now, the race continues, with billions at stake and no easy answers in sight.
