Research desk synthesis · Inaugural source-register review, October 30, 2026. This edition establishes the desk’s research baseline. Its publication date does not make the underlying announcements new today; dated sources retain their original dates, and undated live pages are identified as such.
Statewide orientation. Virginia’s AI economy includes enterprise software, financial-services applications, government technology, university research, and cloud infrastructure. Our initial register deliberately covers each layer. Capital One describes applied AI and research; Appian describes AI-enabled business processes; Leidos describes a federal AI partnership. These corporate descriptions establish activity, not independently measured economic outcomes. [Capital One; Appian; Leidos]
Investment context. Google’s announcement is dated August 27, 2025 and describes additional Virginia cloud and AI investment through 2026, including Chesterfield. AWS’s live commitment page describes an earlier long-term Virginia expansion plan through 2040. Neither is an October 30 announcement, and neither supplies a completed-spend total for an individual campus. [Google; Amazon Web Services]
Campus evidence. Microsoft’s undated Southern Virginia page confirms Boydton operations. Google’s Virginia report identifies its Loudoun and Prince William facilities. These operating references are different evidence from a developer’s master-plan capacity specification; our register preserves that distinction rather than presenting every listed project as delivered infrastructure. [Microsoft; Google]
Delivery watch. QTS’s live Ashburn page still describes DC2 as under construction with a Q2 2026 target. We have not verified completion simply because that quarter has passed. Vantage’s VA3 page also describes campus buildout scope; the record does not certify the delivery of every building. [QTS Data Centers; Vantage Data Centers]
Power. Dominion’s undated data center intake page calls for a site plan, load letter, and load ramp, followed by site-specific infrastructure planning. The SCC’s current fact page describes large-load safeguards and cost-allocation work. Neither a load request nor a marketed campus specification establishes an energization commitment for a property. [Dominion Energy; Virginia State Corporation Commission]
Land use and environmental records. Loudoun’s county guidance records amendments adopted March 18, 2025. DEQ’s issued-air-permit register is a separate evidence trail. A land-use approval and a generator air permit answer different questions; diligence must identify the applicable parcel, approval, conditions, and current stage. [Loudoun County; Virginia Department of Environmental Quality]
Policy. VITA’s live AI resources identify Commonwealth standards and governance tools. JLARC’s 2026 oversight review discusses weaknesses and recommended changes. We treat a recommendation as a recommendation, rather than reporting that the General Assembly or an agency has already adopted it. [Virginia Information Technologies Agency; Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission]
Workforce and research. NOVA publishes Data Center Operations degree and certificate pathways; Microsoft describes Southern Virginia education partnerships. Virginia Tech and UVA identify AI research programs. These are useful entry points for readers, but training availability is not a current vacancy count, and research activity is not evidence of a commercial campus award. [Northern Virginia Community College; Microsoft; Virginia Tech; University of Virginia]
Desk priorities. Our interpretation is that the most useful next checks sit at the interfaces: company adoption versus local outcomes, campus scope versus delivered utility service, and announced opportunity versus an accessible training or procurement pathway. The linked register is the starting evidence set; this edition makes no claim that every Virginia project, company, or policy change is covered. [Capital One; Dominion Energy; Northern Virginia Community College]