Editor’s note: This article explores why there is such a push to build data centers. It is the second of three articles. You can find the first article here. Please visit the People’s Tribune special page for articles on the fight against data centers here.
Big Tech Has Lots of Cash And Incentives to Spend It Now
Big tech has lots of cash on hand. Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Google, Open AI, and Oracle will spend roughly $660 billion this year on AI infrastructure: chips, data centers, cooling systems, and increasingly, their own power generation.
There was an accounting change this year that allows companies to deduct the entire cost of building infrastructure immediately rather than depreciating the cost over a few years, so companies are racing to get data centers built to take advantage of this tax benefit. If construction begins between January 19, 2025, and January 1, 2029, and the facility is in service by January 1, 2031, the cost can be written off 100% in the first year.
Ongoing Demand for Non-AI Cloud Computing
Large organizations have outsourced their data storage to data centers. Also, software companies prefer to sell subscriptions than to sell less profitable software that’s bought once and run on local computers. These kinds of data centers use the less-energy-intensive chips, called CPUs.
Cryptocurrency ‘Mining’ – Similar Needs to AI Training
It requires fast, expensive chips that can handle the complex computations required to create cryptocurrency. Crypto mining is now done in data centers. Crypto mining computations need facilities that are similar to what AI requires.
The Race to Develop More Sophisticated AI Systems
The only thing preventing a recession in the US economy is massive amounts of money being spent to build the AI data centers. Corporate CEOs dream that AI automation will allow them to replace lots of workers, and “regular” AI is replacing some jobs even now. The name of the game is to simply be able to compute solutions – first crypto mining, and now training AI models – faster than your competitors. This is driving an arms race where the winners are determined by who has the fastest, most powerful computer chips at their disposal, and these require large data center facilities.
The Race to Be the First to Develop AGI
AI tools such as ChatGPT may seem like a great leap forward, but they are just a step in the direction of an even greater breakthrough known as artificial general intelligence, or AGI. AGI is a theoretical AI system with capabilities that rival those of a human.
Key Characteristics of AGI
- Generalization: AGI can apply learned knowledge to a variety of different contexts, much like how humans use their cognitive abilities in diverse scenarios.
- Learning Ability: AGI can learn from experiences and improve over time without being explicitly programmed for each specific task.
- Autonomy: AGI can operate independently, making decisions and solving problems without human intervention.
- Adaptability: AGI can adapt to new and unforeseen challenges by leveraging its general knowledge and learning capabilities.
Big Tech wants to either:
- Be the first to develop AGI to become a monopoly to control the market.
- Or if not the first to develop AGI, be able to figure it out fast enough to get a piece of the market.
US Government Supports Efforts to Reach AGI
The government sees AI as key to maintaining global hegemony. The US is preparing for the day when China surpasses the US as the world’s most powerful economy by applying AI to its increasingly sophisticated weapons that are aimed at China.
Karel Riley works with the People’s Tribune, and its bilingual sister publication, Tribuno del Pueblo, as a writer and contributor on human rights and women’s issues. “I’ve been a feminist since early adulthood. As a clerical worker, I joined a union drive with AFSCME seeking comparable wages to men for female-dominated jobs, and we were partially successful. In the mid-80’s our union participated in the historic Hormel strike in Minnesota. Later, I joined others in support of a local welfare rights organization,” she says.
I’m waiting for our paid reduced work time to let us be creative. Let the machines do the repetitive work to set humans free!