Simply while you thought the AI knowledge heart growth couldn’t get any crazier, Meta has gone and constructed knowledge facilities in tents. The technique seems to borrow in equal elements from Tesla and xAI.
In a bid to chop building time in half, Meta has constructed six tents — or “fast deployment constructions” as the corporate describes them — exterior of New Albany, Ohio, in accordance with Michael Thomas, founding father of Cleanview, which tracks knowledge heart deployments.
Thomas’ findings aren’t completely new. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke to The Data final 12 months about his plan to make use of weatherproof tents to deal with the corporate’s multi-gigawatt knowledge facilities.
However Thomas’ pictures and evaluate of native permits showcase the pace of building and scale of the venture. In keeping with metropolis permits reviewed by Thomas, Meta began constructing 5 125,000-square-foot tents between April and June. The satellite tv for pc pictures he shared in his put up on X present the constructions have all been constructed.
The usage of tents is harking back to these Tesla constructed within the parking zone of its Fremont, California manufacturing unit when it was dashing to roll out the Mannequin 3. The location can be powered by 200 megawatts of modular gasoline generators close by, a tactic popularized by competitor xAI.
Contained in the tents, AI chips, doubtless price billions of {dollars}, will go about their enterprise.
The tents have sprung up as Meta has struggled to launch its AI fashions to builders. A current report in The Wall Road Journal discovered that Meta’s newest mannequin, Muse Spark, is full, however the APIs that builders depend on to entry it have been repeatedly delayed.
Meta has mentioned it intends to spend as much as $145 billion on knowledge facilities and different capital expenditures. Wall Road hasn’t appreciated the sound of that, with Meta’s inventory buying and selling down 5% this 12 months. Placing AI chips in tents is one technique to trim the invoice.
Trendster has reached out to Meta for remark and can replace this text if it responds.
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