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Posted on 7/23/26 at 10:45 am to BayouBengals21
Data centers are like highways were in the 1900s, and the railroad before in the 1800s.
It’s our digital infrastructure we all use everyday. And we aren’t slowing down.
It’s our digital infrastructure we all use everyday. And we aren’t slowing down.
Posted on 7/23/26 at 10:47 am to BayouBengals21
quote:
Why the big push for Data Centers?
To make using computerized systems easier.
As a simple example. compare using Google to find something 10 years ago versus finding it today (not just the accuracy of what it finds based on your inputs, but the words you need to input). Instead of having to go through refining dates and/or needing the right key words to find websites with information on something like the US GDP for 1968 (and then clicking the link to search through the website for the data), you can now just type in your address bar: "what was the US GDP in 1968" and it provides you the answer.
Another example would be to copy/paste a new law or some medical jargon into an AI and ask it what it means in layman's terms, and it spits it out within seconds.
And that's just the common, public uses. When you get into silo'd AIs for things like particle physics or case reviews then it can drop research time from days or weeks to minutes.
quote:
just don’t understand why the US is pushing so hard for these
The US is pushing hard for AI data centers primarily due to a mix of national security, economic competitiveness, technological leadership, and geopolitical strategy—especially in the race against China. This is a bipartisan priority, with both recent administrations supporting massive private and public efforts.
1. National Security and Geopolitical Competition
AI is viewed as a strategic technology that will shape future military capabilities, intelligence, cybersecurity, and global influence. Data centers provide the massive compute power needed for training and running advanced AI models.The US sees an AI arms race with China. Dominating AI infrastructure prevents adversaries from gaining advantages in areas like autonomous weapons, cyber operations, surveillance, and decision-making tools.
Data centers are increasingly treated as critical infrastructure. Outages or vulnerabilities could impact national security systems. Policies aim to secure domestic capacity and reduce reliance on foreign supply chains (e.g., for chips, energy components).
Initiatives like designating data centers as critical and executive actions focus on resilient, domestic AI infrastructure.
2. Economic Growth and Competitiveness
AI data centers are a massive economic driver:Jobs and Investment: Projects promise thousands of construction/operation jobs, tax revenue, and local development. Announcements include hundreds of billions in private commitments (e.g., OpenAI, Meta, xAI, and joint ventures).
Broader Economy: AI powers productivity gains across industries (healthcare, finance, manufacturing, logistics). Leading in AI infrastructure keeps the US at the forefront of the global tech economy and attracts talent/investment.
US companies (OpenAI, Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Anthropic) are scaling aggressively, and government policy removes barriers to support this boom.
3. Technological Leadership and Innovation
Compute is the New Oil: Training frontier AI models requires enormous GPU clusters and energy. The US wants to ensure domestic supply rather than ceding ground.
Policies streamline permitting, energy access, and grid upgrades for AI facilities. Examples include executive orders under Biden and Trump-era announcements for large-scale private investment (e.g., $500B-scale plans).
Context and Trade-offsThis push is happening amid challenges: high energy/water demands, grid strain, local community pushback (noise, land use), and rising electricity costs in some areas. Supporters argue the long-term strategic and economic benefits outweigh these, often pairing builds with clean energy or efficiency investments.
In short, it's not just about "AI hype"—it's a calculated bet that compute dominance equals power in the 21st century, much like oil, semiconductors, or aerospace in prior eras. Both parties broadly agree on the need to win this race.
All of the bolded section is from an AI when I asked it your question, it took about 13 seconds to present me with that answer as well as links to where it got some of its information. It's taken me far longer to massage it into a format which makes sense on this board's formatting and to write this part of the response than it did for Grok to offer it up.
Posted on 7/23/26 at 11:41 am to Captain Rumbeard
quote:
This is the most important project human beings have ever worked on. Not hyperbole there. This is about the future of the species and whether it's going to be one that recognizes individual freedom and liberty or if it will be one trained up on the morality of Mao and communism.
Yes, its going to change how our monetary system works, work itself, how we think and why we think certain things, how we are governed... This touches literally everything. What social media did to the world is a drop in the bucket comparatively and I think social media's rise has been extremely impactful itself.
Posted on 7/23/26 at 11:41 am to CitizenK
quote:
Big numbers scare you because you don't know the big numbers every manufacturing plant uses
Big numbers dont scare me. Big numbers are beyond the capabilities of the infrastructure where DCs want to be built. I have been in the meetings where thankfully, the local utility told the DC "we can't support that."
Other areas where there are not much planning, data centers have been built and overwhelmed the existing infrastructure and cause things like uncontrolled spills into natural waterways and insufficient supply of potable water to nearby residents and businesses.
This stuff isn't fear mongering on "what could happen." Most of the fear comes from what HAS happened when areas were not prepared and due diligence was not completed.
Posted on 7/23/26 at 12:45 pm to Bard
quote:
Bard
Why didn't your AI answer include the downsides of data centers?
If there is a data center that builds not far from your home...your property value decreases substantially, water pressure to your home decreases and your electric and water bills are higher. There is constant humming and bright lights to light up your home all night.
quote:
Data center low-frequency noise and infrasound (\(<20\) Hz) can travel significant distances, often penetrating walls and windows with little attenuation. Under quiet or optimal atmospheric conditions, this hum can travel from 1,500 feet to over 3 miles from the facility.
Because this noise is characterized by its long wavelength and ability to easily penetrate structures, exposure to constant sub-audible vibrations can lead to various community and health disturbances. Residents near large industrial sites report symptoms such as:
Sleep disturbances and fatigueHeadaches and dizzinessUnexplained physical pressure or discomfortDue to these pervasive impacts, noise analyses and zoning regulations have become increasingly common. Yes, data centers can cause or increase tinnitus for many people. The persistent low-frequency humming and buzzing from powerful cooling systems, server fans, and backup generators often create disruptive noise and vibration pollution that damages hearing and causes stress and sleep deprivation.Here are specific reasons why this happens:High Noise Levels: Inside a data center, continuous noise levels frequently exceed the universally recognized threshold of 85 dB (and can reach 92–105 dB), which leads to hearing damage.
Low-Frequency Hum: Data centers are one of the few industrial facilities that generate penetrating low-frequency noise and vibrations. This constant background hum travels long distances and often results in "fight-or-flight" stress, headaches, and tinnitus for nearby residents.
This continuous frequency causes permanent hearing damage, vestibular (balance) issues, elevated cortisol levels, stress, chronic fatigue, headaches, sleep disturbances, cardiovascular and respiratory problems, vibroacoustic disease that is thickening of heart structures and severe physical and psychological distress
Data center noise can severely affect dogs, causing profound physical distress, anxiety, and behavior changes. Because dogs have far more sensitive hearing than humans, continuous low-frequency hums and high-pitched mechanical whirs from cooling infrastructure hit them much harder
data centers can create “heat island” effects Scientists say both factors have the potential to stress bees and other pollinating insects
Research emerging in 2026 suggests that large AI-focused data centers can indeed create localized "heat islands" (or "data heat islands"), raising temperatures in their immediate surroundings. This phenomenon is driven by the massive amount of waste heat generated by intensive computing and expelled by cooling systems (such as chillers and fans).
Key Findings on Data Heat Islands (2026)
Temperature Increase: A study published in March/April 2026, looking at over 8,000 data centers, found that surface temperatures in surrounding areas can rise by an average of 3.6°F, with some cases showing increases up to 16°F.
Impact Area: These thermal plumes can impact areas up to 6.2 miles (about 10 km) away from the facilities.Affected Population: The "data heat island effect" could potentially affect more than 340 million people globally.
Posted on 7/23/26 at 12:54 pm to Ailsa
I've only dealt with the Hyperion build in N LA and I can tell you it will not drop pressure to people around there or anything like it because they have nothing to do with the local water provider. That place is sitting right there in their parking lot practically and they say they've got nothing to do with it. When it started they said they weren't even consulted because they weren't going to be connected in any way to it.
Posted on 7/23/26 at 1:01 pm to Captain Rumbeard
quote:
I've only dealt with the Hyperion build in N LA and I can tell you it will not drop pressure to people around there or anything like it because they have nothing to do with the local water provider. That place is sitting right there in their parking lot practically and they say they've got nothing to do with it. When it started they said they weren't even consulted because they weren't going to be connected in any way to it.
I'm glad if that's true for the people of N LA but there are places in my state that it has affected the water pressure and quality.
Posted on 7/23/26 at 1:01 pm to Nosevens
When you convince poor counties in the Tn valley that the data centers are going to use up all the water the brainwashing is complete
Posted on 7/23/26 at 1:06 pm to BayouBengals21
quote:
Why the big push for Data Centers?
It’s the same reason as for the big push for refineries, oil and gas wells, convenience stores, cruise ships and napkin holders. Customers want them and will pay for them. You, for instance. Every time you post on tigerdroppings you are requesting data centers. Each time you use chatGPT or a regular search engine you are requesting more data centers. They are being built because we are using the hell out of them.
Posted on 7/23/26 at 4:52 pm to notsince98
quote:
Big numbers dont scare me. Big numbers are beyond the capabilities of the infrastructure where DCs want to be built. I have been in the meetings where thankfully, the local utility told the DC "we can't support that."
Water is the big number that scares most people. They don't realize that industry uses a lot of water, as does crop and golf course irrigation.
From what i'm seeing power plants are being built in conjunction, though some solar farms on unused farmland is also happening.
Posted on 7/23/26 at 4:54 pm to Ailsa
quote:
water pressure to your home decreases and your electric and water bills are higher
Not so much in Louisiana at all. Here that is nutter talk
Posted on 7/23/26 at 4:58 pm to BayouBengals21
AI is about to swallow and digest Hollywood and media production. That's 10's of billions in revenue while the world market is about 3 trillion.
On that alone, we don't want to lose to China.
On that alone, we don't want to lose to China.
Posted on 7/23/26 at 5:05 pm to CitizenK
quote:
Not so much in Louisiana at all. Here that is nutter talk
It's happening in other places. Wait til they start charging you for it.
Are we going to be charged for all these data centers?
Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here. quote:
Step 1: Scrape the entire internet. Every book, every article, every conversation, every piece of art, every forum post. Do it without asking. Do it without paying.
Step 2: Train a model on all of it. Call it "artificial intelligence."
Step 3: Go to BlackRock's Infrastructure Summit and announce: "We see a future where intelligence is a utility, like electricity or water, and people buy it from us on a meter."
Step 3 is where you sell people's own knowledge back to them. On a meter.
They took the collective output of human thought, compressed it into a model, and now they want to charge you by the token to access a version of what you and everyone you know already created.
One Reddit user put it perfectly: "They stole all this data from us, the people, our life's work, creativity, art, by devouring the internet and blowing through all copyright laws. Now they want to sell it back to us in the form of a utility."
Imagine if someone photocopied every book in the public library, burned the library down, and then opened a subscription service for the copies.
That's the metered intelligence business model.
And they're pitching it to infrastructure investors as though they invented water.
original thread:
https://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/display.aspx?p=123750020&sp=123750020&s=2#123750020
Posted on 7/23/26 at 5:08 pm to BayouBengals21
AI will do more to bring about the Communist "utopia" than anything before it. All IP law will be abolished, either by hook or by crook. There will be no such thing as upward mobility, and the gulf between the Haves and the Have-nots will widen considerably. The frontrunners of the AI movement are all for this, including Elon.
Posted on 7/23/26 at 5:20 pm to Ailsa
quote:
Why didn't your AI answer include the downsides of data centers?
Because the question was "why is the US pushing so hard to build data centers," not "tell me all the positives and negatives of building data centers."
Posted on 7/23/26 at 5:28 pm to LegendInMyMind
I just find it weird that this is now being mapped onto the culture war template. MAGA will be pro data center. Could have really imagined it going different, but it’s now been settled.
Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here.Posted on 7/23/26 at 5:32 pm to BayouBengals21
I work for a company that is building multiple data centers. They are throwing money at everyone, myself included.
First thing they told me:
"Never tell anyone what you do. They won't like it, but that's just for now. Soon, they'll hate it, and hate you. We can't provide security for all our employees"
I'm young, so didn't care at the time.
More and more, as I see which clients we are signing to use our data centers, I can tell you that it's not to compete with China. But we spend a large amount with a public affairs company that is pushing our preferred narrative. We pay for posts from influential social media personalities. It's been our best ROI.
First thing they told me:
"Never tell anyone what you do. They won't like it, but that's just for now. Soon, they'll hate it, and hate you. We can't provide security for all our employees"
I'm young, so didn't care at the time.
More and more, as I see which clients we are signing to use our data centers, I can tell you that it's not to compete with China. But we spend a large amount with a public affairs company that is pushing our preferred narrative. We pay for posts from influential social media personalities. It's been our best ROI.
This post was edited on 7/23/26 at 5:35 pm
Posted on 7/23/26 at 5:34 pm to BayouBengals21
quote:This is the 1960's moonrace all over again.
Why the big push for Data Centers?
Posted on 7/23/26 at 5:36 pm to LSUGrad2024
quote:
I work for a company that is building multiple data centers. They are throwing money at everyone, myself included.
First thing they told me:
"Never tell anyone what you do. They won't like it, but that's just for now. Soon, they'll hate it, and hate you. We can't provide security for all our employees"
I'm young, so didn't care at the time.
More and more, as I see which clients we are signing to use our data centers, I can tell you that it's not to compete with China. But we spend a large amount with a public affairs company that is pushing our preferred narrative. We pay for posts from influential social media personalities. It's been our best ROI.
Thank you for the truth...most people do not believe how bad they really are.
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