Welcome to the Techy Tuesdays segment! Each week here on Geek Alabama, Techy Tuesdays will feature something in the world of tech, tech news, or tech reviews. Everyone loves the latest in technology, and Techy Tuesdays will talk about all tech!
AI data centers can use a town’s worth of power while serving people thousands of miles away. This is the fight over land, water, electric bills, and who pays for the infrastructure behind AI.
A single acre used for AI compute can generate millions of dollars each year. Yet a town of 1,000 people may get few jobs while a city-sized box next door draws electricity for users around the world.
This video traces data centers from the first public internet exchange in Tyson’s Corner to Northern Virginia’s Data Center Alley. It explains how GPUs changed data centers, why generative AI demands so much power, what the water headlines miss, and how America’s fragmented electric grids decide who pays.
Along the way, we compare today’s backlash with prisons, interstate highways, and nuclear plants. We also examine electricity auctions, rising capacity costs, new rate rules, and the improbable return of Three Mile Island as a power source for AI.
The central question is simple: when the cost lands, is it sitting on the town of 1,000 people—or the company that built the box?
Categories: Geeks, Nerds, And Tech Stuff
