DoomsdaysCW<p>AI data centers are making your electricity supply worse and could damage your home, new study says</p><p>Katie Balevic, Lloyd Lee<br>December 29, 2024</p><p>"A Bloomberg analysis assessed readings from some 770,000 homes from February to October and found that over 75% of 'highly distorted power readings across the country are within 50 miles of significant <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DataCenter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DataCenter</span></a> activity.'</p><p>"Stresses on the power grid can lead to inconsistent power quality, and as the power quality decreases, the risk increases, Bloomberg reported. Inconsistent energy flow can cause <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/electronics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>electronics</span></a> to overheat, leading to sparks or even <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HouseFires" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>HouseFires</span></a>.</p><p>"A small handful of large tech companies own the vast majority of global data centers — and they show no signs of slowing down as they pour billions into building more powerful AI models.</p><p>"<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Amazon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Amazon</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Google" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Google</span></a>, and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Microsoft" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Microsoft</span></a> own about 65% of the cloud infrastructure market, which includes data centers, according to a 2023 report from market research firm Synergy Research Group.</p><p>"Google announced in April that it's investing $3 billion to build and expand data centers in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Virginia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Virginia</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Indiana" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Indiana</span></a>. The search engine giant unveiled its latest AI model, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Gemini" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Gemini</span></a> 2.0, in December.</p><p>"<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Amazon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Amazon</span></a>, which is a large investor in AI startup <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Anthropic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Anthropic</span></a>, is investing another $10 billion in Ohio data centers, Gov. Mike DeWine announced on December 16.</p><p>"Microsoft, which has invested $13 billion in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, said in September that the company has partnered with other investors, including <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BlackRock" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BlackRock</span></a>, in a $100 billion energy infrastructure project. The project will include 'new and expanded data centers,' the company said.</p><p>"To meet AI's increasing energy demands, companies like Google have also started turning to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearPower" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NuclearPower</span></a> to find more reliable and sustainable energy sources."</p><p><a href="https://www.aol.com/news/ai-data-centers-making-electricity-195931626.html?guccounter=1" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">aol.com/news/ai-data-centers-m</span><span class="invisible">aking-electricity-195931626.html?guccounter=1</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AIColonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AIColonialism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoNukesForAI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NoNukesForAI</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AISucks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AISucks</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterIsLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WaterIsLife</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Enshittification" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Enshittification</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AIPollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AIPollution</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoisePollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NoisePollution</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DataCenters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DataCenters</span></a></p>