Applied Digital Ellendale AI Data Center: April 2025 Update

Progress continued throughout April at Applied Digital’s Ellendale AI Data Center, as construction efforts advanced across multiple fronts. With favorable weather conditions and a clear focus on critical infrastructure, the ELN02 site remains on track to support the growing demands of high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence.

Key developments from April include:

  • Metal jacketing installation in the east dry cooler yard
  • Vertical construction of standby generator buildings
  • Accelerated timelines supported by consistently clear weather

These milestones mark another step forward in establishing a resilient, next-generation digital infrastructure hub. As momentum builds into May, ELN02 continues to take shape as a scalable, high-efficiency platform designed to meet the evolving needs of AI and HPC workloads.

Applied Digital’s investment in rural, purpose-built infrastructure underscores its role as a leader in powering the future of advanced computing.

Recent Episodes

As AI infrastructure spreads beyond tech hubs and into America’s heartland, companies face a new imperative: not just to build facilities—but to build trust, local partnerships, and long-term value for the communities that host them. In Ellendale, North Dakota, Applied Digital’s Polaris Forge 1 campus has become a case study in what rural revitalization…

As demand for artificial intelligence continues to soar, the AI infrastructure needed to power it is scaling just as rapidly. A 2024 report from the International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasts that global spending on AI infrastructure will exceed $200 billion by 2028, driven by an explosion in compute-heavy applications like large language models and…

AI workloads are redefining the limits of data center design and infrastructure. Legacy data centers, built for traditional co-location, cannot handle the density, thermal demands, or power dynamics of accelerated computing. The AI boom has upended the data center sector, forcing a rapid shift to liquid-cooled racks as facilities pivot from sub-10kW racks to…