Google Pine Island AI Data Center (Minnesota)

In February 2026, Google announced a major AI-optimized data center campus in Pine Island, Minnesota — a 600 MW facility representing one of the largest single AI compute investments in the US Midwest. The announcement is part of Google’s broader $75 billion capital expenditure commitment for 2026, the company’s largest infrastructure investment year on record.

Pine Island was selected for several strategic reasons: Minnesota’s access to abundant wind resources on the Great Plains provides reliable renewable electricity, Xcel Energy — the regional utility — has committed to a dedicated wind and solar PPA to power the campus with near-100% renewable energy. The rural Minnesota location also offers land availability, cold winter temperatures that reduce cooling costs, and access to the regional fiber backbone connecting Minneapolis and Chicago.

The 600 MW campus will support both AI training (for next-generation Gemini models) and large-scale inference workloads. Google’s advanced adiabatic air-cooling system — which uses outdoor air and minimal water compared to traditional evaporative cooling — will be deployed across the campus, a particularly important design choice for a water-stressed Midwest agricultural region. Construction is expected to begin in late 2026, with initial capacity coming online in 2027. The Pine Island facility complements Google’s existing Midwest data center portfolio in Council Bluffs, Iowa and Clarksville, Tennessee.