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Wisconsin communities signed secrecy deals for billion-dollar data centers

wpr.org

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Re: Wisconsin communities signed secrecy deals for billion-dollar data centers

#41

Post by timmg »

delichon wrote: post #18

NIMBY for data centers is opportunity for SpaceX. When they saturate the demand for communication, data processing demand will be ramping up with no apparent ceiling. The merger between SpaceX and xAI positions them to benefit both from the AI revolution, and from the resistance to it. It's like a hypothetical 19th century textile company that managed to profit from Luddite riots by using them to help move production…

Do data centers in space actually make sense? I can’t figure out how that’s possible. But some people seem to believe they do(?)

Re: Wisconsin communities signed secrecy deals for billion-dollar data centers

#42

Post by janice1999 »

542458 wrote: post #27
phkahler wrote: post #24

There is an obvious question I don't see anyone asking. Why do these data centers have to be built in every state? I guarantee it's not to run LLMs.

Same reason the F35 manufacture is awkwardly distributed throughout the US - the shore up political support (voting to kill jobs in your state is usually unpopular) and dip into as many subsidies as possible.

Data centers don't create local jobs once construction is complete. 40 people, most remote, can run a data center. The F-35 program claims to have over 250,000 people employed in its supply chain in the US and has large factories with high paying, often unionised jobs.

Re: Wisconsin communities signed secrecy deals for billion-dollar data centers

#43

Post by onionisafruit »

I’m having trouble with the football-field to acre conversion in this article. It talks about the complex being the size 12 football fields and the data center being 520 acres. I could believe it if those numbers were swapped and there was a 12 football field data center in a 520 acre complex. So I don’t know if they swapped the sizes of the complex and the actual data center or the author thinks football fields are much larger than they really are.

Re: Wisconsin communities signed secrecy deals for billion-dollar data centers

#44

Post by bell-cot »

hrimfaxi wrote: post #11
newsclues wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Secrecy needs a time limit.

Why do we allow municipalities to keep secrets in the first place? Unless it is personnel-related it should be public. If the communications happened on taxpayer funded equipment they should be open.

There are valid uses. McDonalds may not want Burger King to know they're planning to build a new location in Smallville, 'till they actually break ground, or vice versa. Don't blabber to everyone that the City wants to expand a park, so neighboring property owners will know to demand top dollar. Etc.

But yeah - honest uses are pretty limited. Which limits we can hope will be tightly enforced by new legislation.

Re: Wisconsin communities signed secrecy deals for billion-dollar data centers

#45

Post by drunner »

phkahler wrote: post #24

There is an obvious question I don't see anyone asking. Why do these data centers have to be built in every state? I guarantee it's not to run LLMs.

The reason likely here is water. It was the same with foxcon. They want access to Lake Michigan.

Re: Wisconsin communities signed secrecy deals for billion-dollar data centers

#46

Post by engelo_b »

bayindirh wrote: post #25
engelo_b wrote: post #17

[dead]

> These centers guzzle water and power at a rate most small municipal grids aren't scoped for. Are you NIMBYing for our AI overlords which will replace all the work we do and give us unlimited prosperity at the push of a button? This incident will be reported. /s On a more serious note, when the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten, and the last stream poisoned, we will realize that humans cannot eat money (or…

[dead]

Re: Wisconsin communities signed secrecy deals for billion-dollar data centers

#47

Post by timmg »

I find it strange how data centers are getting (sorta) vilified. I keep hearing stories on NPR that are kinda subtle fear-mongering.

Like data centers are probably the least bad thing to build nearby. They take in power and produce computer. No pollution, no traffic, no chemicals or potential explosions.

They do take power. But, like, we know how to generate electricity. And solar is getting really cheap.

Re: Wisconsin communities signed secrecy deals for billion-dollar data centers

#49

Post by threetonesun »

phkahler wrote: post #24

There is an obvious question I don't see anyone asking. Why do these data centers have to be built in every state? I guarantee it's not to run LLMs.

I guess it's an answer to the obviously absurd idea that 98% of data centers be in Northern Virginia.

My less snarky answer is -- we've always had data centers all over the place? When I started in web dev we deployed to boxes running in a facility down the street. That sort of construction probably dropped considerably when everyone went to "the cloud".

Re: Wisconsin communities signed secrecy deals for billion-dollar data centers

#50

Post by m4ck_ »

parpfish wrote: post #20
engelo_b wrote: post #17

[dead]

Do data centers create that many jobs? Especially if you break it down by jobs per sqft, I can’t imagine it compares well to any other type of industrial development

Aside from the initial construction, you need a few shifts of dc techs (for remote hands, running data cables, escorting vendors), electricians, and security. Not much else really needs to be done onsite.
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