saved
AI Data Centers Cost Billions to Build. This is Why
Hraness wrote this summary from a saved copy of the source. Quotations are taken word for word from the source.
gist
Lynn Doan's Bloomberg feature opens with the roughly $750 billion that Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet are expected to spend on capital expenditures this year, then turns to Cushman & Wakefield researcher John McWilliams to explain what a single data center costs. Only the free preview was read; the cost breakdown itself is paywalled.
ideas
- The scale is national-economy sized. Big Tech's expected capital spending this year exceeds the GDP of Ireland or Belgium.
- It rivals the whole market. The figure is more than half of what all S&P 500 companies spent in total last year.
- Per household, it is concrete. The sum would cover a $5,500 check for every US household.
- The story is told through construction costs. The feature leans on Cushman & Wakefield's research group to price a single data center.
quotes
“That’s more than the entire gross domestic product of Ireland or Belgium.”
“Enough to cut a $5,500 check for every household in the US.”