How a 143-year-old paint maker became an unlikely winner of the AI data centre boom

Fans that are part of a cooling system are seen on the roof of a data center, Monday, April 27, 2026, in Hillsboro, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)PPG, a 143-year-old Pittsburgh company that started out making glass, has found an unlikely growth engine in AI data centres. The firm expects its paint sales to data centres to triple this year from last year, The New York Times reported. The coatings are mostly gray and they do a serious job, shielding steel from fire, rust and static electricity inside the huge facilities that Microsoft, Google, Amazon and other tech giants are racing to build. "I've never seen a boom as big as this," said Jenn Solcz, PPG's vice president of protective and marine coatings for the Americas.The surge stands out against the rest of the business. PPG's total sales rose 7% to $4.5 billion in the most recent quarter, and data centres still make up only a low-single-digit share of sales in two parts of the company, executives told the Times. Amy Ericson, a PPG senior vice president, expects data centres to grow "multiple times" faster than other infrastructure markets.Data centre paint sales are outrunning PPG's overall growthRival Sherwin-Williams is seeing a similar pull. Its chief executive, Heidi Petz, said in July that its protective and marine sales rose by a midteens percentage from a year earlier, helped by data centre construction.Speed is a big part of the pitch. Data centres go up in about a third of the time a typical infrastructure project takes, Solcz said, so PPG built one team for the tech giants and another that works with architects and builders before construction begins. The aim is to get its coatings written into a project's approved materials list early.In April, PPG rolled out a data centre package at a trade show in Washington. It covers steel fireproofing, rust-resistant primers, anti-static flooring and coatings that block electrical interference between machines. The company also makes coatings for more than 75 data centre parts, including security camera housings and cooling equipment.Steelguard 951 swells into a crust that keeps fire away from steelThe flagship product is Steelguard 951. At PPG's test facility near Pittsburgh, researchers aimed torches at coated steel panels inside a concrete building called "the bunker." Paul Fenton, a PPG chemist, held up one panel where a 1 mm layer of paint had swollen into a black crust almost 10 mm tall. Trapped air keeps the steel cool, he said, "just like a toasted marshmallow."The coating can protect steel for up to four hours, which gives people time to get out. Fires at data centres can start at backup generators, batteries or nearby power plants.Looks barely matter. PPG's shades are named light gray, gray and dark gray, and data centres are filled with machines, not people. Pipes are the exception, with blue for chilled water and red for sprinklers. Matthew Giddings of real estate firm JLL said paint can cost $3 million to $8 million for one building, a sliver of construction costs.There are bumps ahead. Some projects are waiting on power, transformer shortages have stretched timelines, and local opposition is growing. Ericson said the backlash is for tech companies and utilities to handle.PPG began in 1883 as the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. In 2024, it sold its US and Canadian paint-store business, including the Glidden brand, and now mostly serves businesses, coating cars, aircraft and beverage cans.