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If AI data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?

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Re: If AI data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?

#51

Post by legitster »

iijaachok wrote: post #35
atleastoptimal wrote: post #16

What is the advantage to not keeping them a secret? The populist movement against AI is growing rapidly, and is supported by bunk science which affirms people's pre-existing biases (like the idea that data centers suck up all the water in a community, or raise the ambient temperature by a single-double digit number of degrees F). AI is a genuine source of economic growth. I can understand wanting to curtail it, but i…

You're conflating AI and AI Data centres. What kind of "jobs" does AI data centre creates? More jobs for factory workers who assemble video cards to be shipped and installed in a rack?

I think OP is talking about the downstream implications of productivity growth. Which is still yet hypothetical.

Re: If AI data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?

#52

Post by esafak »

atleastoptimal wrote: post #16

What is the advantage to not keeping them a secret? The populist movement against AI is growing rapidly, and is supported by bunk science which affirms people's pre-existing biases (like the idea that data centers suck up all the water in a community, or raise the ambient temperature by a single-double digit number of degrees F). AI is a genuine source of economic growth. I can understand wanting to curtail it, but i…

Since electricity demand has outpaced supply they are increasing prices: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-ai-data-centers-elec...

Re: If AI data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?

#53

Post by redox99 »

iijaachok wrote: post #35
atleastoptimal wrote: post #16

What is the advantage to not keeping them a secret? The populist movement against AI is growing rapidly, and is supported by bunk science which affirms people's pre-existing biases (like the idea that data centers suck up all the water in a community, or raise the ambient temperature by a single-double digit number of degrees F). AI is a genuine source of economic growth. I can understand wanting to curtail it, but i…

You're conflating AI and AI Data centres. What kind of "jobs" does AI data centre creates? More jobs for factory workers who assemble video cards to be shipped and installed in a rack?

Data centers don't grow on trees.

Re: If AI data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?

#55

Post by bpodgursky »

palmotea wrote: post #36
jeffbee wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Data centers use very little water, right down to none if they want. And state-of-the-art hyperscale data centers really are operated by AIs.

> Data centers use very little water, right down to none if they want. And state-of-the-art hyperscale data centers really are operated by AIs. There are many, many reasons to oppose datacenters. Not the least is they're there to drive inequality to ever-greater heights and they're 21st century version of the toxic waste dump (put 'em where people are weak and marginalized). But water use is a very simple argument, a…

Sorry but no, you don't get to lie just because your arguments don't resonate with the public. That makes you a bad person.

Re: If AI data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?

#56

Post by nancyminusone »

klodolph wrote: post #33
zeafoamrun wrote: post #5

To stop assholes from bombing them

When I’ve visited the big data centers, they had gates and security relatively far out from the buildings. How would you get close enough? It’s not like the World Trade Center in 1993 where you can just drive up next to the building. (It’s also not like the World Trade Center in 2026 where there is an anti-terrorism perimeter of steel-reinforced concrete bollards, but somewhere in the middle.) Of course there are als…

Trebuchet

Re: If AI data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?

#57

Post by tunesmith »

tekla wrote: post #26
konmok wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Source on that water claim? Everything I've seen suggests the opposite.

You believe lies, 99% of data shows that data centers do not use appreciable amounts of water compared to almond farms, or gold courses, or bog standard lawns. https://tech.yahoo.com/science/articles/data-centers-less-wa...

compared to almond farms? You phrase that as if almond farms use a reasonable amount of water.

Re: If AI data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?

#58

Post by chickenpotpie »

iijaachok wrote: post #35
atleastoptimal wrote: post #16

What is the advantage to not keeping them a secret? The populist movement against AI is growing rapidly, and is supported by bunk science which affirms people's pre-existing biases (like the idea that data centers suck up all the water in a community, or raise the ambient temperature by a single-double digit number of degrees F). AI is a genuine source of economic growth. I can understand wanting to curtail it, but i…

You're conflating AI and AI Data centres. What kind of "jobs" does AI data centre creates? More jobs for factory workers who assemble video cards to be shipped and installed in a rack?

Data centers require lots of technicians to install, maintain, and decommission servers. Who do you think installs those video cards?

Re: If AI data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?

#60

Post by dekhn »

duped wrote: post #34

I'm as big of a skeptic on these AI companies and question deeply the long term value of data center buildout as a land use policy in the communities where they're being built. But: > So let me ask the question directly: if AI data centers are such a tremendous benefit to communities, why are so many of them being built without meaningful community input? Because of this (emphasis mine): > They’re watching their util…

Can you say with absolute certainty that sick animals and long term impacts on their health are not caused by data centers? Certainly we have long list of examples where industrial activity contaminated areas with little oversight and it did kill animals and cause long-term impacts on health. I think you're saying that data centers do not pollute in a way that would cause sick animals or long-term impacts on health, but I don't think that can be stated confidently.
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