#datacenters

[progressivepower]

Americans Are Starting to Really Hate DataCenters— AI and It’s Making the Tech Industry Nervous. We have to stop the trillionaires, build it on your mega mansion that you don’t pay taxes for http://news.usaunify.org/TSscFy

[partisan-by-default]

xAI Adds 19 New Gas Turbines Despite Ongoing Lawsuit

Emails show that Elon Musk’s company is expanding its use of portable gas-fired power at its Colossus 2 site as a fight over air quality con

The additions come as xAI is fighting a lawsuit from the NAACP and several environmental groups, alleging that the company is violating the Clean Air Act by operating more than two dozen natural gas turbines at the site without appropriate air permits.

Emails between an official in the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and a representative from Trinity Consultants, obtained via a public records request by the Southern Environmental Law Center and shared with WIRED, show that xAI installed 19 portable gas turbines on its site in Southaven between late March and early May. That brings the total to 46 turbines operating at the site.

A spreadsheet included in the email to MDEQ has a column labeled “Total Power Output” that appears to list the megawatt capacity of each turbine on the site. MDEQ spokesperson Jan Schaefer confirmed to WIRED that that column indicated the megawatt output of each turbine, meaning that xAI added more than 500 megawatts of natural gas turbines since mid-March.

Burning natural gas can release planet-warming emissions and worsen air quality. xAI did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment. The additions of the new turbines to the site, dubbed Colossus 2, were first reported by Mississippi Today.

[nom-xd]

"You're gonna burn alright." 🐾

[caffeinesam]

FFS I THOUGHT IT WAS OVERWHELMING THE MUNICIPAL WATER PUMPS BUT NO THEY'RE DROPPING THE MOTHERFUCKING WATER TABLE AND CAUSING THE MOTHERFUCKING GROUND TO COLLAPSE

[necarion]

How do datacenters "consume" water? I get how power plants do, where water used for cooling ends up boiled and vented into the atmosphere. But datacenters are not operating at 600C or higher and do not have the same cooling needs. Can't the water used for cooling just get put back into the river when they're done with it?

Or is the "they use so much water!!1" because the heat does meaningfully increase the amount of evaporation?

[richmindanimations]

By 2030, AI data centers are projected to consume nearly 600 terawatt-hours of electricity every year. But what does 600 TWh actually mean? Let’s break it down in real-world terms: https://youtu.be/7LbfUsS8x5o?si=yBZVSZBTKCoQH4Sj

[punmonster]

im sorry for doubting you

[startupmac]

Beyond data centers—Meta is building cities! Meta Compute launches with a plan for tens of gigawatts of power this decade.

Mark Zuckerberg just announced Meta Compute, a new "top-level" initiative that marks the largest infrastructure build-out in the company’s history! The goal? To build tens of gigawatts of power capacity this decade—and eventually hundreds of gigawatts—to deliver personal superintelligence to billions of people. To put that in perspective, this infrastructure will eventually consume as much energy as small countries.