Don’t mention the data center: OpenAI calls them ‘compute campuses’ instead
OpenAI has responded to the data center culture war pitting communities against tech companies with a proposal to reduce its power demand during periods of grid strain. The company is also mindful of the bad publicity generated by talk of data centers and has renamed them “compute campuses” in an attempt to make them less scary. This is in line with the recent trend for renaming places like the…
OpenAI has reframed the data center debate by introducing the term "compute campuses" to lessen public fear. The company is also addressing concerns about data center power demands during grid strain by proposing a program called Grid Protectors. This initiative aims to cut electricity usage in data centers when demand is high, allowing nearby communities to maintain operations like air conditioning or heating.
As data centers consume more power and AI servers contribute to this rise, the issue of strained grids and protests against data center development is growing. OpenAI's Grid Protectors Program seeks to tackle these challenges by considering future capacity needs and promoting power flexibility in data center design, with regional variations.
The company has not yet finalized all aspects of the scheme but hopes it will alleviate some protests. Google, however, is taking a different approach by offering incentives for people to turn off their appliances during peak consumption times for data center usage.
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Also reported by 1 other outlet
- What Sam Altman told OpenAI employees about data centres after US midterm results timesofindia.indiatimes.com
