But that magic depends on a sprawling network of very real infrastructure—GPUs, servers, data centers, cooling systems, undersea cables—and consumes a staggering amount of energy. But I’m newly conscious of that infrastructure since touring a mammoth data center in Singapore a few weeks ago. It may be the worst place on the planet to build data centers: land is scarce, energy is expensive, and the island is hot and humid all year round. Five years ago, alarmed by the realization that data centers were guzzling 7% of the city-state’s total electricity consumption, Singapore’s government imposed a moratorium on building new ones. FortuneAI rhetoricLast quarter, Meta, Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet spent a combined $40.5 billion on infrastructure, land and chips to power AI services.

Source: Forbes August 02, 2024 19:00 UTC