It's safe to say Altman and OpenAI believe the scaling laws are going to hold for quite some time. Great scoop from @shiringhaffary https://t.co/BUk8fTp0AO
— Reed Albergotti (@ReedAlbergotti) September 25, 2024
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently pitched an ambitious plan to the Biden administration to build a network of massive AI data centers across the United States. Each data center would consume up to five gigawatts of power, which is roughly equivalent to the output of five nuclear reactors. Altman argues that these data centers are necessary to ensure US national security and maintain the country’s technological lead over China.
The proposal outlines the benefits of building several such data centers in different parts of the country.
this argument is a little surprising, assuming it's right. data centers don't employ huge numbers of people once they're built https://t.co/dd3CB14J6u pic.twitter.com/4G6UAeI2Wq
— Jordan Novet (@jordannovet) September 25, 2024
The plan comes just weeks after Altman and other tech leaders met with the White House to discuss the rapid growth of AI technologies and infrastructure. According to executives at Constellation Energy Corp., Altman may be planning to build as many as five to seven data centers, but will start with one.
However, constructing even a single five-gigawatt data center presents significant challenges.
Sam Altman's quest for cheap AI is going to cost a Fortune (no pun intended, but kinda funny). I tackled the topic for @FortuneMagazine Eye on AI newsletter today: https://t.co/PgKL5DCO1f
— Sharon Goldman (@sharongoldman) September 24, 2024
Altman’s ambitious AI facility proposal
The power stations needed to support these facilities would be among the largest in the US, second only to the Grand Coulee hydroelectric plant in Washington state.
Power shortages and equipment limitations are already causing delays in many data center developments.
OpenAI pitched White House on unprecedented data centre buildout
OpenAI has pitched the Biden administration on the need for massive data centres to develop more AI models to compete with China.
https://t.co/OdChBG76PI via @scmpnews— Paul Triolo (@pstAsiatech) September 25, 2024
Cloud providers are taking extreme measures, such as turning to nuclear power, to ensure they can keep up with the demand for AI computing resources. Microsoft recently announced a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy to bring a nuclear power plant back online, while Amazon partnered with Talen Energy to acquire data center facilities and gain access to nuclear power.
In addition to power challenges, sourcing enough accelerators to fill these data centers is another hurdle. A five-gigawatt facility could support over 35,000 of Nvidia’s Grace-Blackwell NVL72 GPUs, which is more than the company is expected to ship this year. Altman’s proposal may be an attempt to get the US government to consider the long-term investments needed to support AI development.
OpenAI has not yet responded to requests for comment on the reported plan.
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