GoKawiil
Tech News
Storage prices are climbing fast as AI data centers consume the supply of NAND flash and hard drive components once reserved for consumer products. A 2TB SSD that cost $120-$200 last year can now run close to $400, while even small 256GB drives have jumped several times over their previous $25 price point. Portable drives used for everyday backups have also nearly doubled in cost within months.
Qualcomm's stock rose 4% on Tuesday following news that it will supply customized silicon for Amazon Web Services' AI infrastructure, with a focus on inference workloads. As part of the deal, Qualcomm granted Amazon warrants to purchase 25 million shares at $161.26 each, valuing the arrangement at roughly $4 billion.
Thailand's government has asked operators of 49 data centers under construction to voluntarily halt work while officials draft comprehensive legislation covering the industry, according to NESDC secretary-general Danucha Pichayanan. The country currently lacks specific laws for data centers, resulting in loopholes such as facilities being zoned as warehouses next to hospitals, and officials plan to spend about a month drafting rules after gathering data from agencies through September 11.
Former Opendoor CEO Eric Wu has emerged from a year-long break to found a new company, now out of stealth since May, that builds AI-powered voice assistants for construction and field workers. The tool acts as a hands-free coach guiding laborers through tasks, aiming to address a labor shortfall the industry group Associated Builders and Contractors pegs at roughly 349,000 missing workers this year.
A June fire at the unfinished Lake Mariner data center in Somerset, New York, left local firefighters battling smoke from unidentified chemicals with no working alarms, no suppression system, and three dry hydrants. TeraWulf, which owns and operates the site under a complex arrangement involving Fluidstack, Google, and Anthropic, said the required safety documents were destroyed in the blaze. Months later, the fire chief said promised fixes like functioning hydrants still had not been completed.
A viral video shows a large data center in Denver's Elyria-Swansea neighborhood running sprinklers heavily on its grounds while residents face stage-one drought restrictions limiting lawn watering to two days a week. The facility is believed to be an 18-megawatt, 170,000-square-foot site owned by cloud provider CoreSite, though the tenants using the space haven't been confirmed.
A Bitcoin mining data center in El Reno, Oklahoma, owned by Athlon Blockchain LLC, has been condemned after leaking roughly 3 million gallons of water, prompting closures of schools, businesses, and city and county offices. The facility had reportedly continued construction and operations despite a 2023 city Stop Work Order tied to fire and safety code violations and expired permits.
X reported identifying roughly 200 accounts tied to China that it says were amplifying anti-data center rhetoric on the platform, sparking coverage framing local opposition as foreign manipulation. President Trump quickly echoed the claim on Truth Social, suggesting China benefits from the backlash against US data center construction, even as public polling shows growing domestic opposition to these projects regardless of any outside influence.
A group called Build American AI, backed by venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz and OpenAI president Greg Brockman, is launching a multimillion-dollar advertising push in states like Ohio, Wisconsin and Kansas to counter growing public opposition to AI data centers. Brockman's $100 million super PAC, Leading the Future, is reportedly financing the campaign, which frames pushback against data centers as a threat to jobs and American competitiveness.
As AI data centers rise across the country, the trucking industry is quietly benefiting from hauling the materials needed to build them—HVAC systems, wiring, tubing and semiconductors. Industry executives say this equipment-heavy freight, especially flatbed and heavy-haul segments, has seen multiyear-high spot rates and tighter capacity even as broader freight demand remains uneven amid tariffs and record diesel prices.
xAI-affiliated SpaceXAI is giving Memphis and Southaven, Mississippi residents 50% off Starlink internet plans and waiving the upfront cost of its new V5 hardware kit, following criticism over unpermitted gas generators powering its AI data centers. About 2,000 households have signed up since the July launch, a small fraction of the roughly 250,000 households in the Memphis area. A similar promotion is running in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana.
Meta is testing robot arms from suppliers including ABB, Kinova, and Watney Robotics to handle physical data center tasks like swapping network cables and power-cycling server racks. The effort is still in early trial stages, but an anonymous Meta employee said a Kinova robotic arm could eventually take over up to 80 percent of workers' current duties. Meta declined to comment when asked about the testing.