Sue Data Centers

Data Center Registry

Empire AI Gamma

Buffalo, Erie County, New York · All 2 Empire AI consortium sites

Under constructionNo reception on recordAI confirmedRecord updated September 10, 2026

Empire AI Gamma is a data center under construction in Buffalo, New York (Erie County), operated by Empire AI consortium (hosted by the University at Buffalo, SUNY).

Every line on this page traces to a public source listed at the bottom. Where a figure was looked for and not found, the row says so. A blank is never a zero.

Facility record

Under construction

Operator
Empire AI consortium (hosted by the University at Buffalo, SUNY)
Facility type
Data center, AI use confirmed
Location
Buffalo, Erie County, NY
Coordinates
42.8864, -78.8784 (approximate)
Power capacity
Not established from a public source
Land
Not established from a public source
Investment
Not established from a public source
Announced
Not established from a public source
Utility
Not established from a public source
Cooling
Closed loop
Water use
Not established from a public source
Jobs
Not established from a public source
Public subsidy
Not established from a public source
Community reception
No reception on record
Source confidence
Reported by at least one credible outlet or filing

Opposition and litigation at this site

Nothing on record as of September 10, 2026. No lawsuit, organized opposition, or contested hearing over Empire AI Gamma in Buffalo, Erie County, New York appears in the sources this registry tracks. That is an absence in our sources rather than a finding that none exists, and local opposition often predates any coverage a national dataset would pick up.

If you live near this site and something is happening that this page does not show, that is worth telling us. Send us the document and it goes in the record with the source attached. For sites where opposition is already established, see every contested site we track.

A new status, a permit, a reception finding, or a lawsuit. Nothing else, ever.

Power and water

State and university sources state Gamma integrates "into University at Buffalo's buildout of a thermal energy network in a closed loop system," with "process heat from Empire AI" used "to heat buildings on campus." Recorded as closed-loop because the circuit recirculates. No water withdrawal figure is published.

Notes on the record

Empire AI's permanent, full-scale computing facility. Both cited sources say "Construction continues on Empire AI's permanent, full-scale Gamma facility at UB, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2027" - hence the under-construction status, but the record is marked reported because neither cited source names a specific building, parcel, or campus (UB has Buffalo and Amherst campuses) and neither gives a construction start date. Coordinates are a Buffalo city-level placeholder, approximate, and not a parcel. As of 2026-09-09, neither source states an MW capacity, a dedicated investment figure for Gamma specifically, an acreage, a job count, or a site-level subsidy agreement. This is the same consortium-wide state capital commitment noted on the Empire AI Beta record -- total backing over $500M incl. private/philanthropic funds, not phase-specific. The cited article names no Gamma-specific dollar figure. The $340m Empire AI consortium-wide state capital commitment is statewide, not Gamma-specific, and the cited source names no Gamma-specific dollar figure. It is not recorded as a site-level subsidy entry, to avoid counting the same state money against two facility records.

What the record does not establish, and the document that would

In every fight on our tracker the decisive fact came out of a public records request. These are the requests for this site.

  • Power capacity in megawatts
  • Tax abatements or other public subsidy
  • Permanent jobs promised
  • Land area
  • How the community has received it
  • Which utility serves it
Which document closes each gap
Power capacity in megawatts
The utility's large load service agreement, the interconnection request in the grid operator's queue, or the electrical site plan in the permit file.
Tax abatements or other public subsidy
The abatement, PILOT, or development agreement approved by the county, city, or development authority, and the state's data center sales tax exemption certificate if one was issued.
Permanent jobs promised
The economic development application or incentive agreement, which usually states a job commitment and a clawback.
Land area
The rezoning application, the plat, or the deed recorded with the county.
How the community has received it
Planning commission and governing body minutes, public comment records, and any petition or lawsuit filed in the county.
Which utility serves it
The electric service agreement or the utility's filing with the state public utility commission.

Have one of these documents? Send it to us and we will add it to the record with attribution.

Other sites within 30 miles

Distances are between recorded coordinates, many of which are a city or county centroid, so treat them as approximate. Cumulative load on one utility and one aquifer is the question a planning commission rarely asks.

Tell us about your situation

Living near Empire AI Gamma?

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Questions people ask about this site

Is there opposition to the Empire AI Gamma data center in Buffalo?

Nothing on record as of September 10, 2026. No lawsuit, organized opposition, or contested hearing over Empire AI Gamma in Buffalo, Erie County, New York appears in the sources this registry tracks. That is an absence in our sources rather than a finding that none exists, and local opposition often predates any coverage a national dataset would pick up.

Has anyone filed a lawsuit over the Empire AI Gamma data center?

No lawsuit over Empire AI Gamma appears in the record we track as of September 10, 2026. Residents most often reach a lawyer over water supply, well drawdown, noise from cooling plant, property value, or a rezoning approved without the notice the ordinance required. If any of that is happening near this site, it is worth a review whether or not a case has been filed yet.

How much water does Empire AI Gamma use?

No water withdrawal figure for Empire AI Gamma is on record here. Cooling is recorded as closed_loop, which is the strongest available clue: closed loop and air cooled plant draw far less than evaporative cooling. We leave the number blank rather than estimate one.

Who operates Empire AI Gamma, and how big is it?

Empire AI consortium (hosted by the University at Buffalo, SUNY) is the operator on record. We hold 2 sites for that company across the registry. No capacity figure is on record for this site.

How to cite this page

SueDataCenters.org Data Center Registry, "Empire AI Gamma," updated September 10, 2026, https://suedatacenters.org/data-centers/empire-ai-gamma-buffalo-ny.

Facility data from Compute Atlas (E. Kubiak), version 1.34.1 (October 4, 2026), licensed CC BY 4.0, record https://www.compute-atlas.com/facilities/empire-ai-gamma-buffalo-ny, retrieved October 29, 2026.

Corrections with a public source are welcome at the Compute Atlas record or through our contact page. The whole registry is available as CSV and JSON under CC BY 4.0.

Sources for this record

As compiled and cited by Compute Atlas, with our own reporting appended. Archived links are used where the original has moved.

  1. 1.Governor Hochul Announces Empire AI Beta Fully Online as Federal Government Takes Inspiration From New York to Launch State and Regional AI Infrastructure Hubs · Office of the Governor of New York State · retrieved September 9, 2026
  2. 2.Empire AI Beta, housed at UB, now fully online · University at Buffalo (UBNow) · retrieved September 9, 2026

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