I've toured a datacenter in California and it was a pretty straightforward thing: bunch of computers, cables air conditioning, a couple of people working there. I know there are some differences depending on the type of datacenter, but what am I missing? Why are all of these people up in arms over some rack servers?
AI Datacenters != Compute datacenters while at the same time trillions of dollars are flowing into these AI datacenters which aren't creating a job at the same levels too.
The worst offense seems to me that AI DC's are taking incredibly more load on the grid as compared to normal DC's so it ends up driving the prices of residential energy too also at the same time raising prices of energy for Normal DC's usecases as well.
More write up about AI DC!= Compute DC at another comment I wrote on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48300354
People in the area (and sometimes neighboring states) face increased power prices since a data center puts increased strain on the grid and generating capacity necessitating costly upgrades which get spread around to all subscribers. (Sometimes 2x power bills)
They also consume water for evaporative cooling which can increase costs for neighbors.
They are also loud so you don’t want them within half a mile. Bitcoin data centers in Texas are sometimes located right in the town center and the some studies show that the infrasound from cooling fans poses a health risk.
dexwiz•38m ago
CyLith•32m ago
legitster•12m ago
Despite tax breaks and infrastructure requirements, these data centers still represent a massive windfall for the cities where they are built.
The problem is most people don't feel a personal connection to an increase in city revenue. Most cities are not going to pass it along as a tax cut - they're going to disperse it into parks and roads and schools and salaries.