12/19/2024

The AI Race is Already Taking a Toll

Ireland’s massive data centers are a cautionary tale

Dozens of massive data centers humming at the outskirts of Dublin are consuming more electricity than all of the urban homes in Ireland and starting to wear out the warm welcome that brought them here.

Now, a country that made itself a computing factory for Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok is wondering whether it was all worth it as tech giants look around the world to build even more data centers to fuel the next wave of artificial intelligence (AI).

Fears of rolling blackouts led Ireland's grid operator to halt new data centers near Dublin until 2028. These huge buildings and their powerful computers last year consumed 21 percent of the nation's electricity, according to official records. No other country has reported a higher burden to the International Energy Agency.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Fast Company.