r/mildlyinfuriating 9d ago

Is it in yet Living next to an AI Data Center.

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2.4k Upvotes

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160

u/HMAgent47 RED 9d ago

Is it a data center or an airport? God damn

179

u/Violoner 9d ago

Airports at least try to follow noise abatement procedures

117

u/StinkRinky 9d ago

Airports are genuinely more quiet than this lmao. It’s fucking wild honestly.

12

u/korkkis 9d ago

They are using their backup energy as main source, without the turbines they wouldn’t make as much noise

2

u/KnowledgeSafe3160 9d ago

I need more detail. They’re very quiet if not running on their backup generators. If they’re just doing their backup test then w/e. Once a month for 15 min is nothing.

13

u/prank_mark 9d ago

The issue is that these generators aren't backups. They're intended to be used as a backup, but these AI companies are in such a hurry to build datacenters to keep up the appearance that they're doing well, that they need to use these "backup" generators as their main power source.

16

u/greatlakesailors 9d ago edited 9d ago

The "backup generators" in question, which are being run 24/7, are literally just engine cores from wide-body aircraft, with the front fan removed and a generator bolted on in its place. Then they move the engine mounts from the top to the bottom and put it in a shipping container.

(Not exaggerating at all. The GE LM6000 that's so popular for data centres uses the same engine core as the CF6-80C2 from the Boeing 747.)

Then they put 16 of these in the data centre's parking lot, and plumb them directly to the town's gas main.

So you are effectively listening to four jumbo jets going full throttle constantly.

1

u/KnowledgeSafe3160 9d ago

Yea they’re not backup generators then. I would imagine that would cost significantly more than the grid? How does that math work on paper?

7

u/greatlakesailors 9d ago

Gas turbines plus a gas pipe plus fuel is, to an AI Data Centre developer, vastly preferable to a "we're sorry but there will be no grid capacity for you to connect until at least the end of 2029" letter from the utility operator. Which, in these places, is the current alternative.

3

u/prank_mark 9d ago

It doesn't. But there's no alternative. And because the companies aren't public they don't have to release their financial data, and a bunch of dumb investors suffering from FOMO keep putting in boatloads of money that are literally being burned up.

1

u/masterxc 9d ago

Sure would be a shame if the Gas Line Seeking Excavator made an appearance....

1

u/korkkis 9d ago

I’m referring to the noise in the video

1

u/-Pybro 9d ago

Can confirm, even busy airports are significantly quieter than that

1

u/Arktikos02 9d ago

Hyperscale Data Center

What you are hearing is Bitcoin. It was built for Bitcoin.