this post was submitted on 13 May 2026
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The Stratos artificial intelligence datacenter footprint will cover more than 40,000 acres (62 sq miles) over three sites in Box Elder county in north-western Utah. The facility will require about 9GW of power, which is more than the entire state of Utah currently consumes, and suck up a significant amount of water in an area that has been hit by severe drought in recent years.

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[–] Paranoidfactoid@lemmy.world 20 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

What are these data centers to be used for? People say AI, but that's not specific enough. This shit is surveillance state.

Have you ever played Cyberpunk 2077?

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 1 points 3 hours ago

Yes its surveillance state being built. Humans will work for Ai in exchange for basic income.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 10 hours ago

AI for the surveillance state.
Sort of like the center point of skynet.
Soon there will be heavily armed autonomous mechs walking the perimeter shooting everything organic within 100m the property border

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.cafe 30 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

All those shithole Red states are going to get raped by data centers, while the Blue states will force them to pay their way.

[–] snapoff@sh.itjust.works 25 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

It’s not that black and white (or red and blue as the case may be). I live in a blue state that is also selling out to data centers under the guise of “job creation”.

[–] this_1_is_mine@lemmy.ml 5 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Make them quantify jobs that they are creating

They city council is too busy counting the money they were given to pass this

[–] 00xide@lemmy.ml 3 points 13 hours ago

They do quantify them. There's been counters for that. The people speak out against them at town halls. It still goes up.

[–] ElectricAirship@lemmy.dbzer0.com 37 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Gonna be a cool liminal space in the next 5 years when this inevitably fails and gets abandoned

[–] ChaosSpectre@lemmy.zip 5 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

My money is on Ikea acquiring the leftovers to easily set up new locations lol

[–] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 13 hours ago (3 children)

You mean Costco, à la Idiocracy?

Welcome to Costco, I love you.

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 3 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

The Democratic People's Republic of Costco.

[–] ChaosSpectre@lemmy.zip 2 points 11 hours ago

I smell future competition

[–] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 105 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No backlash unless they are dragging the council members out of their homes.

[–] KC_Royalz@lemmy.world 74 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

Which honestly needs to happen. Those council members should be fearing for their lives everytime they go outside. But Oleary probably gave them a fat paycheck so they will no longer have to live in the area.

[–] Malyca@lemmy.zip 11 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

They shouldn't be able to have dinner in peace

[–] Signtist@bookwyr.me 1 points 1 hour ago

They shouldn't be able to have dinner

[–] hushable@lemmy.world 23 points 19 hours ago (3 children)
[–] belochka@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago

If that's going to be one humongous superstructure, zoned inside, then if this fails, they might get a new city. Superstructures like this are nice, just nobody usually builds them (after 50s and 60s, I suppose) for residential areas.

One can repurpose the space for multi-story apartments (I suppose ceilings will be much higher than needed), or malls, or literally everything.

Or factories, if there are problems with exporting orders to southeast Asia.

If this even gets built.

Or if it doesn't fail, then heat and noise pollution, I suppose. And grid load. Not nice.

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[–] MushuChupacabra@piefed.world 31 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

Those data centers are jam packed with copper, and have far less security per kg than you'd think.

Lots and lots of RAM kicking around too, if you're a little short.

[–] modus@lemmy.world 9 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Is it even the type of RAM peasants like me are interested in?

[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 13 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

That depends, are you interested in money?

[–] Burninator05@lemmy.world 12 points 14 hours ago (1 children)
[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 12 points 14 hours ago

I can't believe you like money too. We should hang out.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 12 hours ago

apparenlty not any AI can be used by an individual since its not compatible.

[–] Zron@lemmy.world 5 points 16 hours ago

Remember your LOTO before you snip the wires

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 72 points 23 hours ago (6 children)

Why are they building these things in dry hot places, surely the one time real estate cost can’t dwarf all the other issues?

[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 65 points 23 hours ago (3 children)

That's long-term thinking. I assume it's like a ponzi scheme: everyone who puts money into something like this thinks they'll cash out before the problems occur.

Why do I feel like the ones left holding the bag are going to be the taxpayers/residents somehow?

[–] crusa187@lemmy.ml 29 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

~~E Pluribus Unum~~

Privatize the gains, Socialize the losses.

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[–] belochka@lemmy.world 2 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

If I were justifying my account name, I'd suppose, for the purpose of future appearing interesting, this might be a coverup.

Such a structure is useful for many things, and while a DC doesn't have to be that big, a factory producing real things on scale or mass housing or a prepared company town all benefit from being in one place.

So perhaps it's being built as a DC, but in fact is going to be like a drone factory, or something equally dystopian-futuristic.

Or a humongous supercomputer, whatever.

I'm starting to think along plot lines of science fiction and space operas I've seen and read before, they were saying it's harmful for my development, I didn't believe them.

Another option - it's, yes, a scheme and it won't get built. Just pump and dump.

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Nobody is thinking this shit through long-term or short.

[–] IHeartBadCode@fedia.io 18 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

It's located on the Ruby Pipeline which will serve as the primary source of energy in the short term. Additionally, the data center being classified as a national security site, is located near the Utah Test and Training Range.

Longer term the facility is looking at nuclear facilities for power and the possibility for a runway and aviation facilities.

The primary customer of this facility will be the United States military.

[–] redsand@infosec.pub 3 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

This is also why Utah. They will staff it with mormons and have fiber runs already

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 12 hours ago

they build it in red states because of the lack protest/resistance against it, at least from the gop.

[–] GreenBeard@lemmy.ca 17 points 20 hours ago

This. US military is the target market. That people live there, that humans need water to live, and that powering this is going to entirely erase the local agriculture and wider ecosystems are all irrelevant. Deus Vult.~

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

evaporative cooling is better in a arid dry environment. of course this has the side effect of using ALOT more water than neccesarry. utah is already drier than salt.

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[–] KC_Royalz@lemmy.world 55 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

Nearly 4,000 people have lodged objections to the project being approved, with this pushback leading to contentious public meetings that Lee Perry, the Box Elder county commissioner, said have left him feeling “physically sick” amid alleged death threats and false accusations.

Good

[–] vathecka@lemmy.radio 39 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

"waaahhh death threats" is the usual retort whenever someone gets deserved criticism. Maybe try not doing things that make your constituents want to kill you?

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[–] anon_8675309@lemmy.world 8 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Okay. How is Mr Wonderful actually going to pay for this?

[–] MajorasTerribleFate@lemmy.zip 8 points 16 hours ago

High-royalty, low-equity that sounds better than it is.

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 13 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Wtf would you even want to make something that big.

Thats a huge geographic vulnerability. You could still make huge ones but spread it out.

[–] Insekticus@aussie.zone 14 points 19 hours ago

Greed. That's the entirety of the answer.

Whoever ticks and flicks these data centres is paid with grotesque amounts of money to approve this shit and to deal with the fallout.

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