AI power surges overload data centers, triggering costly outages
Technology
AI is using so much electricity that data centers are struggling to keep up, sometimes burning through 50% more power than they were built for.
This overload is causing batteries and cooling systems to fail, leading to expensive outages (think: hundreds of thousands of dollars lost every minute they go down).
Report warns US models risk blackouts
These sudden surges aren't just a headache for tech companies: they're making the whole power grid less stable.
A September report found that about three-quarters of the load models for US data centers are insufficient to represent data-center dynamic behavior, raising concerns about possible blackouts.
While companies like NVIDIA are working on fixes, experts say more investment is needed to keep both AI and the grid running smoothly.