#data-centers

#data-centers

The Pew Research Center indicates that the current profile of data centers is 87% urban and 13% rural, but future additions will be 67% rural and 33% urban.

Together AI's move to a new headquarters represents a 4,900 percent increase in office space, reflecting the company's rapid growth in the generative AI sector.

"We were considering multiple forms of capital when we started. It just felt like the opportunity is so large that venture capital gives us the opportunity to take those risks upfront and have the possibility to generate an outsized return."

I was always a tinkerer, I guess. I grew up in the age where computers were not ubiquitous or common. An experience as a kid was instrumental in how my career happened.

"Americans deserve to know how much energy data centers are sucking up and what that's doing to their utility bills. The EIA's mandatory survey is an important first step towards holding data centers accountable, but people are hurting right now."

With community opposition growing, data center backers are going on a full-scale public relations blitz. Around Christmas in Virginia, which boasts the highest concentration of data centers in the country, one advertisement seemed to air nonstop. "Virginia's data centers are ... investing billions in clean energy," a voiceover intoned over sweeping shots of shiny solar panels. "Creating good-paying jobs" - cue men in yellow safety vests and hard hats - "and building a better energy future."

Data centers drive climate change by burning fossil fuels, using large amounts of electricity, and requiring up to five million gallons of water a day to fuel cooling systems. Research has shown these facilities can harm the health of local residents through air and noise pollution, while providing minimal long-term job stimulus.