Tech giants have been investing hundreds of billions of dollars into AI data centers just this year alone. But as the deals pile up, so have the concerns around their viability and sustainability. Michael Calore and senior correspondent Lauren Goode sit down with senior writer Molly Taft to discuss how these energy hungry facilities actually work, the different industry interests at stake, and whether it’ll all come crumbling down.
Mentioned in this episode:
The AI Industry’s Scaling Obsession Is Headed for a Cliff by Will Knight
OpenAI's Blockbuster AMD Deal Is a Bet on Near-Limitless Demand for AI by Will Knight
A Political Battle Is Brewing Over Data Centers by Molly Taft
How Much Energy Does AI Use? The People Who Know Aren’t Saying by Molly Taft
You can follow Michael Calore on Bluesky at @snackfight, Lauren Goode on Bluesky at @laurengoode, and Molly Taft on Bluesky at @mollytaft. Write to us at uncannyvalley@….com.
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Transcript
Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors.
Michael Calore: Hey, Lauren. How are you doing?
Lauren Goode: Hey, Mike. I'm great. It's so nice to be back in studio with you again, because our schedules were not aligning for the past few weeks.
Michael Calore: Nope. But the stars and the moon have aligned now, and here we are once again.
Lauren Goode: Here we are. And I'm sure all of our listeners have just been sitting here wondering, "When are Lauren and Mike getting back together? When is the band getting back together?" And I just went to yet another AI dinner last night. Everyone's talking about AI. Everyone is talking about whether or not we're in an AI bubble, and I think a lot of this is fueled by the news that we've been seeing trickling out about all of these AI infrastructure projects.
Michael Calore: Yes, data centers.
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