North Dakota — AI Data Centers & Bakken Oil & Agriculture in North Dakota

North Dakota is becoming the epicenter of America's AI infrastructure buildout, and almost nobody outside the industry knows it. The state's cold climate, cheap energy, and lax regulation are drawing hyperscale data centers at a scale reportedly set to consume power equivalent to the Hoover Dam within a decade -- two firms, one likely Microsoft, are pursuing $125 billion in AI data centers here, on top of Microsoft's existing Fargo campus, the legacy of its 2001 acquisition of Great Plains Software. The Bakken oil patch is running its own parallel version of the same story: portable micro data centers, deployable in 12 hours, are being built directly into the oil fields. Underneath both stories sits the state's real, older economy: Bobcat, the equipment manufacturer, is headquartered in West Fargo, and North Dakota State University and the University of North Dakota -- home to one of the country's most established unmanned-aircraft-systems programs -- anchor the state's agricultural and aerospace research base.

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The wealth hiding in flyover country

Region Stats

Total firms 20

VC / investors 2

Companies 16

Schools 2

People 1

By Who For

Healthcare & Life Sciences 3

Agriculture & Food 3

Financial Services 2

Energy & Climate / Environment 2

Known For

AI Data Centers

Bakken Oil

Agriculture