Racks of AI chips are too damn heavy
TL;DR
The number of data centers has surged globally, raising environmental concerns. Instead of building more, we should consider retrofitting existing ones to meet new tech demands.
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In the span of a decade and a half, from 2010 to the end of 2024, the number of data centers in the US quadrupled. The trend is similar worldwide: more data centers, bigger, now or soon. The number of the construction projects of centers over 100 megawatts announced over the last four years total 377, according to data center certification and research agency Uptime Institute.
But before we allow Big Tech's feverish race toward more compute, which environmentalists would not like us to allow, let us pause and consider another option: making do with what we have. Can we retrofit our current data centers to match the needs of our newest tech …