{"id":59117,"date":"2026-02-25T14:08:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T18:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/big-tech-pledges-energy-funding-for-ai-data-centers-merck-reports-positive-phase-3-hiv-data\/59117\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T14:08:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T18:08:25","slug":"big-tech-pledges-energy-funding-for-ai-data-centers-merck-reports-positive-phase-3-hiv-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/big-tech-pledges-energy-funding-for-ai-data-centers-merck-reports-positive-phase-3-hiv-data\/59117\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Tech Pledges Energy Funding for AI Data Centers; Merck Reports Positive Phase 3 HIV Data"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Amazon (<a href=\"\/stock\/AMZN\">AMZN<\/a>), Alphabet (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>), and Oracle (<a href=\"\/stock\/ORCL\">ORCL<\/a>) have entered a voluntary White House agreement to fund 100% of the energy infrastructure required for new AI data centers.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Merck (<a href=\"\/stock\/MRK\">MRK<\/a>) announced successful Phase 3 results for its HIV treatment, Doravirine\/Islatravir, demonstrating non-inferiority to Gilead\u2019s Biktarvy.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A federal judge blocked the <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a> administration&#39;s rapid deportation policy, ruling that expanding &quot;expedited removal&quot; violates the due process rights of migrants.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The technology sector&#39;s energy pledge aims to mitigate rising electricity costs for residential consumers while supporting a projected $500 billion infrastructure build-out.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Big Tech Agrees to Fund AI Energy Infrastructure<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Amazon (<a href=\"\/stock\/AMZN\">AMZN<\/a>)<\/strong>, <strong>Alphabet (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>)<\/strong>, and <strong>Oracle (<a href=\"\/stock\/ORCL\">ORCL<\/a>)<\/strong> are set to sign a landmark agreement with the White House to self-fund the massive energy requirements of the artificial intelligence boom. According to reports citing White House officials, these companies\u2014along with <strong>Meta (<a href=\"\/stock\/META\">META<\/a>)<\/strong> and <strong>Microsoft (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>)<\/strong>\u2014will pledge to cover <strong>100% of the costs<\/strong> for new power generation and grid upgrades.<\/p>\n<p>This voluntary commitment is designed to ensure that the financial burden of scaling AI infrastructure does not fall on American households through increased utility rates. <em>The initiative comes as the administration seeks to facilitate a &quot;golden age&quot; of technological dominance while managing the environmental and economic impact of data centers that require massive amounts of electricity and water.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Merck Announces Positive Phase 3 HIV Trial Results<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Merck (<a href=\"\/stock\/MRK\">MRK<\/a>)<\/strong> released pivotal Phase 3 data for its investigational once-daily HIV-1 treatment, a combination of <strong>Doravirine and Islatravir (DOR\/ISL)<\/strong>. The results, presented at the <strong>CROI 2026<\/strong> conference, confirmed that the two-drug regimen is non-inferior to <strong>Gilead Sciences (<a href=\"\/stock\/GILD\">GILD<\/a>)<\/strong>&#39; blockbuster three-drug therapy, Biktarvy.<\/p>\n<p>The study met its primary efficacy endpoint at <strong>48 weeks<\/strong>, with <strong>95.6% of participants<\/strong> on the Merck regimen maintaining viral suppression. <em>Market analysts suggest these results strengthen Merck&#39;s position in the competitive HIV market, especially as the company nears its April 28, 2026, FDA PDUFA action date.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Federal Judge Blocks Trump Deportation Policy<\/h2>\n<p><strong>U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb<\/strong> issued a ruling blocking a key pillar of the <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a> administration&#39;s immigration agenda: the rapid deportation of migrants to third countries. The judge barred the use of &quot;expedited removal&quot; for migrants who entered the country legally under parole or those who have established residency, citing <strong>Fifth Amendment due process protections<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling represents a significant legal hurdle for the administration\u2019s goal of executing <strong>1 million deportations per year<\/strong>. <em>Legal experts anticipate the Department of Justice will appeal the decision, as the administration argues that the executive branch has broad authority to secure the border and remove non-citizens without lengthy court hearings.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), and Oracle (ORCL) have entered a voluntary White House agreement to fund 100% of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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