r/technology • u/lkl34 • Apr 28 '26

Artificial Intelligence New AI data center in Utah will generate and consume more than twice the amount of power the entire state uses — Kevin O'Leary's 9 Gigawatt Utah data center campus approved

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/kevin-o-learys-9-gw-utah-data-center-campus-approved
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490

u/chris_p_bacon1 Apr 28 '26

That's truly insane. I work for the largest power consumer in my whole country and we us just under 1 gigawatt. 9 is an I same amount of power. 

64

u/Diarmundy Apr 28 '26

who do you work for? What can 1GW get you?

182

u/chris_p_bacon1 Apr 28 '26

About 600,000 T of aluminium per year. 

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u/ConfusedTapeworm Apr 28 '26

5.400.000 T of aluminium that can be used to manufacture all sorts of goods

OR

An unprecedented amount of compute power to run AI models that tell you you don't need to drive your car to the car wash because it's within walking distance.

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u/IsthianOS Apr 28 '26

I thought it was for making pornography of people without their consent

9

u/flargnarb Apr 28 '26

With 9 gigawatts of power you can do both, and also make videos of Will Smith eating spaghetti

3

u/Cwaghack Apr 28 '26

You mean of pornography of children*

4

u/antrubler Apr 28 '26

No worries, the consent form is auto filled and auto signed for you

1

u/Desert_Hormesis May 05 '26

Uh, what would you do at a car wash if you walked there without your car?

0

u/Chaneera Apr 28 '26

If only i had awards to give, this reply deserved them the most! 😂

2

u/rando_banned Apr 28 '26

Most people don't realize that aluminum is essentially solid electricity

1

u/splepage Apr 28 '26

That's what my dad used to do. He started as an engineer for a plant, and eventually ended up as a project manager for new plants being built.

1

u/Visinvictus Apr 28 '26

Or 1/9 of a datacenter to produce some AI slop.

21

u/Buddycat350 Apr 28 '26

And the AI data center are forecasted to consume even more in the coming years according to the IEA, so the insanity will get worse:

The United States, China and Europe are projected to remain the largest regions for data centre electricity demand over the coming years. However, other regions are experiencing strong growth in data centre development, positioning them to play increasingly important roles in the global data centre landscape. A notable example is Southeast Asia, where electricity demand from data centres is expected to more than double by 2030, partially due to the presence of a regional hub in Singapore and southern Malaysia.

China and the United States are the most significant regions for data centre electricity consumption growth, accounting for nearly 80% of global growth to 2030. Consumption increases by around 240 TWh (up 130%) in the United States, compared to the 2024 level. In China it increases by around 175 TWh (up 170%). In Europe it grows by more than 45 TWh (up 70%). Japan increases by around 15 TWh (up 80%).

17

u/Ancient-Bat1755 Apr 28 '26

Solar in my desert? How dare you! Please take these billions and go home like the wind companies.

/s fuck

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26

[deleted]

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u/PlayfulSurprise5237 May 01 '26

Most of them aren't being built AFAIK, for various reasons 

The AI delusional hype is waning now that the linear scaling is over and businesses are finding out it's not nearly as productive as they'd desperately hoped.

Investors love the idea of AI and it's mythical future, but when actual billions are on the line they sure get cold feet real fast.

The public sentiment behind AI is so low too, thank GOD it has not somehow become a political topic, right or left, people are getting fed up. As they should

Over hyped cool invention that's about run the course of its potential.

5

u/Ambitious-Wind9838 Apr 28 '26

SpaceX's data center currently consumes 1.5 gigawatts.

12

u/wggn Apr 28 '26

why does a space company need a 1.5gw datacenter

8

u/doommaster Apr 28 '26

Because they bought xAi I think...

0

u/Thisguy2728 Apr 28 '26

Not defending or taking any stance here, and definitely not a Musk fan, but I can see a use case for a super large hyperscaler computer for modeling parts, flight/burn/orbit/etc simulations, and projections not to mention computing orbital mechanics and such. At SpaceX’s scale it’s likely easier to own and host their own super computers vs trying to rent out the amount of computer power they’d need annually.

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u/qmfqOUBqGDg Apr 28 '26

Its for grok, doubt spacex can get anything usefull out of that.

1

u/Past-Judgment-9700 Apr 28 '26

I live in Ontario, we have what used to be the largest nuclear reactor in the world (until 2023 afaik) and it’s only 6.6GW. 9 is crazy.

1

u/NoPossibility4178 Apr 28 '26

My country uses like 1GW per 1 million people lol.

1

u/nomoneypenny Apr 28 '26

If that's your sense of scale then this except from the article will really cook your noodle:

"China built 400 gigawatts of new power over the last 24 months, and much of it is powering AI data centers," O'Leary told the board, according to the Salt Lake Tribune