Energy usage in data centers is an increasingly Hot Topic, particularly with AI applications becoming more popular and widely used.
While some organizations have talked up their commitment to renewables, such as solar or hydro, others have this month started to discuss a different, perhaps more controversial low carbon path.
Elsewhere, a new rebellion against home working is beginning – and this time it's not CEOs or ministers leading the charge.
In this episode, Jane is once again joined by Ross Kelly, ITPro’s news and analysis editor, to discuss the biggest stories of the past month.
Highlights
“Oracle, another big, major cloud provider – Larry Ellison outlined plans to power a new gigawatt data center, using nuclear energy. These are small modular reactors that they're talking about here to power this, SMRs. They are, from a theoretical standpoint, cheaper to run and far smaller, more compact.”
“The AWS nuclear deal hit a bit of a stumbling block in mid-July. So, the company that AWS is working with on this Talen Energy, there's been a bit of pushback from a number of utility companies in the area, American Electric Power, Accelo, they have essentially lodged a complaint, claiming that, you know this deal is going to result in higher power bills for taxpayers.”
“A survey by FDM group business consultancy basically found that three-quarters of Gen Z workers want hybrid working because of the work life balance it offers… But a big takeaway here is that they're eager to get back into the office for what they see as potential mentoring opportunities, learning from senior peers, to drive career growth.”
Footnotes
- Oracle wants to power a new gigawatt data center with three small nuclear reactors – and it’s not the only big hyperscaler eyeing nuclear to meet surging AI energy demands
- AWS’ nuclear-powered data center deal just hit a major roadblock
- Microsoft is using AI to get its nuclear projects approved in the US
- AWS just dropped $650 million on a data center built next to a 2.5 gigawatt nuclear power station - and it still might not be enough to keep pace with surging future energy demands
- Data center carbon emissions are set to skyrocket by 2030, with hyperscalers producing 2.5 billion tons of carbon – and power hungry generative AI is the culprit
- Gen Z is tired of working from home — stunted career growth and limited training opportunities mean they're willing to brave the commute
- Return to office mandates can be divisive - here are three things business leaders can do to help smooth the transition
- The company-wide benefits of mentorship in tech