East of Broken Bow | Maxzillian - 5/4/2026 11:39
My impression is that there has been this big rush to build data centers with the intent of leasing them to companies needing hardware to run their AI efforts. I personally suspect they're going to end up with a surplus of data centers and a deficit of available power.
I'm honestly a little dismayed by it all. Here we've been preached to that as a civilization we should be trying to reduce our consumption of resources, do more with less, etc, and yet AI seems to be a total contradiction to such efforts. AI certainly has its place, but at the moment it seems like everyone is trying to cram it into every nook and orifice of our lives in hopes of chasing that sweet sweet dollar and I'm here waiting for it to all implode.
There is zero doubt in my mind that it is going to increase the cost of living for us all. It has already driven up the price of computer components drastically and there is no way that the added energy consumption is not going to nickel and dime all of us with added infrastructure costs and yet more attempts to punish us for peak-demand usage.
Perfect example of what you are talking about would be Bill Gates. Was real big about everyone sacrificing to preserve the environment until he had a chance to make a few more billion $$$ with data centers, now he has changed his tune to something more like we can adapt to a changing climate, an extra degree or two is no big deal.
To be fair, he is also investing in nuclear power plants that could be fueled by existing nuclear waste, and IMO that would be a good thing - but also notice he is positioned to make money both ways, with the data center, as well as the new power plants to provide them with the electricity they need. |
Data Centers
