Everyone is competing for land
Recently, the construction of data centers (DC) is facing a shortage of land and electricity resources. Major technology companies such as Google, Microsoft, AWS, Oracle, and Meta are actively seeking suitable locations and power supplies. Trump mentioned at the WEF that he would accelerate the approval of new power plants to meet the demands of data centers. The rapid development of AI has intensified competition for resources, especially in North America. Market risk warning, investment should be cautious
Zuckerberg's Capex announcement, strictly speaking, is not considered an upward adjustment. However, the timing of this unofficial statement, not made by the CFO himself, inevitably connects it to recent events. In summary, everyone is competing for land, electricity, and resources.
At a PTC conference in Hawaii, Jefferies' power analyst shared notes, and the biggest takeaway from the conference was: CSPs are all looking for land and electricity. In 2024, Google has been cautious about leasing in DC and is currently facing a gap; Microsoft has already leased a large amount of land in 2022-2023, paused in Q4 2024, and is now back to searching. AWS, Oracle, and Meta are also actively looking for land. In the past, the norm was to build data centers (DC) where there was fiber optic network and then bring in electricity. Now, electricity has replaced fiber as the prerequisite, and only where there is electricity can the network be connected.
At the recently concluded WEF, Trump also mentioned that to accelerate AI development, he will fast-track the approval of new power plants to meet data center demands, and he even wants to personally approve them without going through years of processes.
OpenAI's massive satellite has a sense of seizing the initiative. Musk's sarcastic comments on Twitter stem from the fact that xAI's construction in Memphis is progressing steadily, with larger plans ahead, but the biggest bottleneck for DCs in the U.S. is clearly land and electricity. Especially after the AI diffusion announcement, it essentially drives DC construction towards North America, making land and electricity in the U.S. even scarcer... OpenAI hasn't even sorted out its financing structure and has jumped in to seize the opportunity first. Ultimately, how much demand will consume remains uncertain, but securing resources first...
DeepSeek asked a Meta colleague about this, only to be mocked; everything is currently normal for them, and the comment was purely self-deprecating...
Article title: Information Equality, Original title: "Everyone is Competing for Land..."
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