Could someone here explain these data centers? All of a sudden they seem to be propping up every where.

[bluestarone]

Using local water and local power that people need. Is this ALL AI? Strange and even scary what's going on.

[OC375]

1. More data centers equals more money for shareholders. Need there be any other reason?

[LearnedHand]

2. The heavy compute in data centers generates massive heat

Corporations are saying we need massive data centers to handle the extra computing load from AI compute. These monsters are about as anti-environmental an effort as we’ve ever dealt with.

[ImNotGod]

3. All they do is feed AI, drive up local electric and water costs, are a huge draw on local water sources

they also have a very negative impact on farming and the environment. They are good for nothing but driving up stock prices on the big wall street casino.

[bluestarone]

4. After reading some replies

I'm sure it's possible for OUR WATER and POWER rates to increase? Plus My questions are where is the MONEY coming from? Who the hell is deciding what and where they are built? WHO is in charge of all these BULLSHIT data centers, and why all of a sudden are they needed?

[SWBTATTReg]

5. Well, there really is a demand for data centers, when you consider that a TELCO or other major business will

receive 10s of millions of bills, as well as issuing those very same bills month to month. The data centers get those bills when customers mail their payments as well as the data centers mail their monthly statements too, back and forth, month to month, year after year. A small dp (data processing shop) couldn't handle the flow, thus you get a 'data center'. At SBWT, we had 7 data centers, pretty well one for each state, 3 for Texas. Printing the bills as well as handling customer payments. Online transactions are slowly reducing the flow of mail (in and out). Imagine this process going on for each major retailer, each major company that has a ton of employees, and you can see why there are so major data centers. This is NOT AI. These data centers have been around for decades. This is NOT scary or strange.

[lame54]

9. The one in Utah will be...

Twice the size of Manhattan and use more electricity than the state currently uses

Tahoe has one year left before Nevada energy pulls the plug to focus on a data center

The use of water in these is apparently extreme

We're getting away from green energy
Man made fuel shortages
Drought areas

AI, crypto and data centers are heading us in the wrong direction if we want to get a handle on climate change

[SWBTATTReg]

10. Data Centers also aren't 'popping up' everywhere, there are in every large business, etc. in the US. The TELCO example

I mentioned is only one of 7 data centers by a very major business. They been around for a long time, and the trend is merging operations together, as businesses buy each other out, and data center opers. are consolidated or eliminated if not needed, e.g., payroll applications etc.

And, as the technology improves over the years, we've all seen computer components shrink in size, thus resulting in less power demands at the same time. Businesses also are resorting to large arrays of alternate power, such as fields of solar panel farms, etc. Timing of power usage (peak demand loads) is also a major focus of energy users, they too, don't want to pay any more in energy bills (although these rates are at commercial rates, vs. residential rates).

[lame54]

6. The beginning of The Matrix

[Happy Hoosier]

7. AI is all about the capex right now.

Lots of money flowing in circles with the ultrawealthy skimming off the top. It’s hard to imagine the revenue to justify the capex actually emerging. Companies are willing to pay for AI at 1/10 actual cost, but if it were 10 times more expensive? I have some doubts.

[TheProle]

8. You're using one now.

[highplainsdem]

11. The sudden demand for new data centers has nothing to do with DU or the internet as we've known

it or traditional computing for business, government, etc. The rush to build data centers is all about AI, especially generative AI.

[TheProle]

12. Ai is increasing demand for sure, but forums, social media and streaming services

absolutely also make use of data centers. It is not a new bogey-man that appeared out of nowhere to service AI exclusively.

[highplainsdem]

13. The GREATLY increased demand is from AI.

[usonian]

14. They're all competing to be the "winner take all" in a giant market they envision.

They are using brute-force algorithms instead of smarter and much smaller ones. The Chinese issued a model that is vastly smaller and more efficient. Translation: they work harder, not smarter and are colossally wasteful.

I see AI models running on desktop computers already, so like mainframe computers, a few will survive, serving big corporations and (of course) government surveillance of citizens --- look up "pre-crime"

Number of people running spreadsheets on personal computers versus running financial models on mainframes?

I can't imagine the ratio.

Excess capacity and power generation will have been wasted. It will be up to us whether we get all the excess power capacity for comfort and tons of space that will be unused, now for housing, or if they just electrocute dissenters in the giant concentration camps made available.

The Gartner Hype Cycle is undefeated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gartner_hype_cycle



Guess where we are on the curve.

[Bettie]

15. Tech Bros want to show us that they have the power to do anything they want to

and stealing water and power from states for their magic beans...I mean, data centers, are the way they try to show that they own everyone and everything.

Especially when they take water from drought stricken areas because they can.

NOTE: I am not a fan of tech bros or AI. I don't care if others think AI is the best thing in the world....I do not.

[highplainsdem]

16. Brookings Institution article on data centers from November of last year:

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-future-of-data-centers/