The AI Data Center As a Green Sci-Fi Theme Park: What the Frack?
September 23, 2026
The GOAT awaits trial. Telegram-linked entities step on their creativity pedal. Fast and furious outputs.
As my team and I continue to compile information about the Telegram empire, we noticed a write up about the newest data center initiative from Alpha Compute (né AlphaTON Capital). With the once-TON coin now renamed GRAM coin, the satellite apparently linked to the Telegram empire are emitting signals. A new burst of data concerns a data center and natural gas extraction play in Pennsylvania. What is interesting is that we were not able to identify who sold the property to Alpha Compute nor the company providing the analysis about the mineral reserves on the tracts of land. We did, however, spot an AI-generated image of what the fully-developed property will look like. This image appeared in the news release about the deal:
I think the vision of the future smart software data center is interesting. There are some McMansion barns, probably housing servers and GPUs. There are a couple of drones keeping an eye on the complex. There are some glass-walled structures that shout, “We have nothing to hide.” Plus there is what appears to be a rotating restaurant similar to those atop certain hotels decades ago.
However, in our Telegram Notes discussion of this news release, we point out that this news release leaves a number of important questions unanswered. Here’s one:
Does Alpha Compute have sufficient access to capital if the data-center construction, gas-development program, permitting process, or local legal challenges prove more costly or time-consuming than projected?
You can find this story titled “Alpha Compute: A Data Center Deal in Pennsylvania” on our Telegram Notes blog. The entire Telegram operation — the TON Foundation, Alpha Compute, and TON Strategy Company seem to be floundering. Pavel Durov, the GOAT, awaits trial in France. He has been under scrutiny for more than two years. We think we know what will happen to Telegram if Pavel Durov goes to jail. In fact, that look over the horizon is the subject of our new monograph for cyber fraud investigators. We anticipate having the book available in September 2027.
PS. GOAT is the way Pavel Durov presents himself: The greatest of all-time Russian techno-entrepreneurs. Subtle. Just like the rendering of the envisioned Alpha Compute data center and mineral extraction facility. Fracking never looked so good.
Stephen E Arnold, September 23, 2026
Chicago: The Spirit of Mayor Daley Remains Alive in a Data Center Play No Less
August 27, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
Mayor Richard J. Daley, The last of the big city bosses, died in 1976. I think his spirit may still live in the city with big shoulders. I read “Data Centers Near O’Hare Win Nearly $100M in Local Tax Breaks, Leaving Suburban Homeowners to Cover the Gap.” I am not sure about the word “win.” In fact, I don’t want to speculate about how the deal was reached, what compromises were made or implied, and what the upside for those responsible for the negotiation will be. You, however, are free to speculate.
Thanks, Midjourney. Good enough.
The write up reports:
More than a dozen data centers near O’Hare International Airport are receiving tens of millions of dollars in local property tax breaks this year, shifting the financial burden onto suburban homeowners even as local leaders tout the benefits of the explosive industry amid growing public backlash. The impact lands hardest on homeowners in suburbs where the tax base leans on a handful of big businesses. In northwest suburban Northlake, the average homeowner would save more than $2,000 on their annual tax bill — a difference of almost 30% — if local data centers did not receive valuation reductions and incentives, according to the analysis. At least 18 northwest suburban data centers won multimillion-dollar breaks in their taxable value from Cook County officials — in one case landing on a valuation far below what the business originally paid to buy its site.
Stated simply, data centers benefit; homeowners do not. The write up adds: “O’Hare-area data centers avoided nearly $100 million in taxes due to incentives and reductions.”
How did the deal get sone? The write up hints that attorneys specialized in property tax were involved. Expensive attorneys can assemble actual factual data to support their argument. A country tax authority is in tough spot. Its attorneys may not have the resources required to debunk assertions about jobs, economic upsides, and commercial benefits like spawning more businesses to support the data centers. Plus, one cannot discount the spirit of Mayor Daley. His spirit could have permeated the thinking of the tax authority professionals, allowing them to understand the truth-carry arguments of the data centers’ representatives.
Among the methods used to help the tax authorities see the truth, the Chicago Tribune story notes these:
- Presenting low-ball land evaluations
- Sidestep valuations of necessary equipment for cooling and power generating
- Lack of legal precedents
- Methodological sleight of hand when it comes to math.
Those hit with higher taxes can appeal. In Illinois, there is a Property Tax Appeals Board. At this point, it is important to remember that Illinois has a track record of relying upon such estimable officials as Otto Kerner, Jr, the governor who did race track deals or Edward Burke, who was convicted in 2023 or “racketeering, extortion, and bribery for pressuring developers.” (Source: MyStateline.com.)
One of the elected officials in a Elk Grove Village is quoted by the Chicago Tribune as saying, “Do we love having to (give incentives)? No. But we are put in this position, and we have to find the best way to stay successful.” How does one define “success”? In Illinois, numerous definitions are possible.
Net net: Apologies to Carl Sandburg, who wrote:
They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I have seen your painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to kill again. And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the faces of women and children I have seen the marks of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer and say to them:
We need to be successful. We need the power slurping, throbbing, buzzing, humming data centers. [This line is a Beyond Search original.]
Stephen E Arnold, August 27, 2026
A Data Center Is on the Way to San Jose
August 21, 2026
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Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
When I worked in Silicon Valley, I visited Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world. A couple of my colleagues from the zippy start up at which I worked wanted to check out the Gilroy Garlic Festival. I remember the odor of garlic billowing from different food stands. My recollection is that it was rural compared to Berkeley where I lived, and it smelled … of garlic. I then left Gilroy, and I have not returned. Now Gilroy is in the news for something other than garlic.
Roger Wehner, Amazon Web Services vice president of economic development, told WSJ that the site had gone through a long approval process, which required public notices and public-comment periods. However, when Gilroy resident Rosa Rodriguez wanted to state her concern about the damage a data center can do to a region suffering from drought, she was told that the comment period had already lapsed in 2024, long before data centers became a hot topic across the country. Gilroy City Mayor Greg Bozzo said that other industrial projects that had a similar scale to the Amazon data center have previously been approved without resistance.
Thanks, Midjourney. Good enough.
That adds some spice to the data center tale in my opinion.
Amazon is now taking steps to make sure the garlic capital is well seasoned with information; to wit:
The tech giant also said that it’s engaging more with the community, with Amazon officials claiming that they met residents directly and even hosted an open house where people can ask questions and leave comments. It also addressed fears that the development would cause a water shortage, which other data centers have already caused, saying the company is constructing a wastewater recovery system to supply its water needs and will even build a pipeline to bring wastewater from the source to its plant.
Cooking with water is over-rated. Use olive oil. Plus, garlic plants grow underground. When it rains in Gilroy, the soil catches and retains the water. A data center is probably a mere sipper of the groundwater from the Llagas Subbasin. Plus, any graywater can be used to water the garlic plants.
But what about noise? Noise, what noise?
But what about emissions from back up generators? Emissions? What emissions. Residents cannot smell the miniscule emissions due to the prevalence of the garlic odor from the festival.
But what about power grid demand? Power. Hey, no problem. Amazon can pay for power just like those residing in the garlic capital can.
There you go. A data center, no public comment and no problem.
Residents of Gilroy, pay attention to land use hearings and rules. Oh, did you know that hanging garlic on a string around one’s neck does not ward off data centers.
Stephen E Arnold, August 21, 2026
Google Its River Rouge Strategy: Wizards at One End, AI Domination Out the Other
August 11, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
Google thinks big. It is big. In order to produce big money, it has to do big things. Therefore, target other big outfits, suck their customers, and become bigger. It worked in online advertising, and, by golly, Mother Google thinks it will work for AI. Henry Ford figured it out. Iron ore goes in one end and square motor cars come out the other. Big time blue chip consultants know about the first Ford card rolling off the vertically integrated production line on October 1, 1908. Flash forward to 2026, and we have information that Google is channeling River Rouge.
Thanks, Midjourney. Good enough Henry and his leadership team.
A representative write up about Google’s march to River Rouge-ism is “Google Plans to Produce Up to 15 Million AI Chips by 2028, Rivaling Nvidia’s Total Accelerator Volume.” The write up states:
Google plans to deploy between 12 million and 15 million ninth-generation TPUs by 2028.
Is that a meaningful number of TPU 9s? Sure it is. The Techspot article states:
If those numbers hold, Google’s output would be in the same range as Nvidia’s projected shipments…. That would mark a notable shift, with a single cloud provider producing a volume of AI accelerators comparable to the leading merchant chip supplier.
Plans can change. But just for fun, let’s assume that Google is building a 2026 version of Henry Ford’s revolutionary vertically integrated manufacturing system.
The inputs are the people who “develop” products and services. The metal is the people who click because Google is everywhere online. The paint is the smart software that makes a user look shiny and very, very bright most of the time. And the car is the software and services on an Android platform.
I admit I am probably omitting big chunks of the Google River Rouge, but the main points are close enough for horse shoes just like the outputs from Google’s smart software.
Why is the Google building its Ford-inspired info factory?
Here are my answers to this speculative question:
- Google wants to win. That includes taking Microsoft’s commercial and government business. It requires neutralizing other AI outfits except maybe Alibaba’s because Google is a partner and has designs on the global payment plumbing. It is crucial to the manifest destiny of the Google. Sergey’s back at work; Larry is sending emails. Proving Google is Googley is, indeed, a big deal.
- Google wants control. As the smartest company in the world, it cannot exist unless it has control. Whether it is the “Senator, thank you for that question” method or the reality of taking clicks from its own ad customers, Google has to be in charge; otherwise, the leadership will have failed the achievements their moms and dads expected of these Googlers.
- Google wants money. Henry did not sell cars for fun. Henry sold cars to make money and fend off accusations that he was [a] possibly semi-wonky, [b] interested in alternative political systems, and [c] he wanted people to drive black cars because choice is not important.
The big question is, “Can Google pull this vertical AI play off?” In the absence of meaningful regulation and the continuing flow of online advertising revenue, sure. There are pesky competitors. There may be questions about the ANT Financial deal. There may be staff grumbling. There may be a need to borrow and float bonds to pay for this digital River Rouge.
But it is the Google only if the money is there.
Stephen E Arnold, August 11, 2026
Where Do You Build a Data Center? On Water or Drought Land?
June 22, 2026
There is some discussion about data centers being built in the United States. These puppies promise jobs until they are built. But the installations do require some natural resources and unnatural resources like the mythical, safe modular nuclear reactors. (You too might have one in your neighborhood with a delightful fuel pool too.)The Guardian reported on the current state of data centers being built and how much water they use: “Majority Of US’s New AI Datacenters To Be Built On Drought-Hit Land.”? ? Around two-thirds of new data centers will be built on land where water is not exactly emulating Noah’s flood. There are 809 centers ready to be build and 517 are on land where water is in questionable supply.
This information comes from Cleanview and the US government that grades droughts based on four levels of severity.? Sixty percent of the US is facing the driest spring on record and scientists are saying the continuous burning of fossil fuels is the cause.?Just build them where the land is cheap and the populace is docile. Hopefully.
The write up asserts:
“But a stampede of new datacenters are adding extra demands via their hefty energy and water requirements. Large datacenters, some the size of small towns, can require up to 5m gallons of water a day, equivalent to the water use of up to 50,000 people, in order to provide cooling to arrays of humming networked computers. Overall, the multiplying datacenters across the US are set to demand as much as 73bn gallons of water a year by 2028, up from about 17bn gallons in 2023. One study estimated that, for instance, a model such as GPT-3 ‘needs to ‘drink’ (ie, consume) a 500ml bottle of water for roughly 10–50 medium-length responses, depending on when and where it is deployed’.”
BAIT outfits (big AI tech in our lingo) believe that data centers are one key to AI success. Some squeaky wheels voice concern sabout who will get first priority to precious water resources and the rising price of the service. The Guardian reoports:
“Yet the public backlash has been so strong – polling shows 70% of Americans don’t want to live next to a datacenter – that some states are considering new restrictions. California, Michigan and Iowa, for example, are mulling bills to require operators to submit regular reports on water use while others, such as South Carolina and Kansas, may force developers to use closed-loop cooling systems. Lawmakers in New York have gone further, with plans for an outright moratorium on datacenters.”
But data center visionaries assume that the modular nuclear power unit in a shipping container is not a problem. When a real demand for AI compute appears, the obvious place to put data centers is in orbit. Most BAIT visionaries believe that the engineering problems are trivial. The water concern? It’s just temporary. If you need a drink, buy a six pack of Evian at your local specialty grocery. Problem solved.
Whitney Grace, June 22, 2026
Data Centers in Space: Leave Complaining, Ignorant Humanoids Behind
June 19, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
At lunch the other day, the conversation turned to notable Silicon Valley failures. One person mentioned Theranos. That was the college drop outs blood testing machine. How’s prison life, Elizabeth. Then there are the full self driving cars? Have you whipped those problems Tesla and Waymo? We have the AI “next big thing.” How’s that working out, Mr. Venture Investor?
Now we have the data centers in space idea. Hey putting stuff in outer space or low earth orbits is routine now, right. Sure, a few rockets immolate to the delight of visitors to launch pads, but the basic concept of moving tons of data center hardware, infrastructure, wires, and maybe — just maybe — a humanoid or two to orbit is no big deal.
A logistics problems just demonstrated that real life is different from chatter in Cuppa about data centers in space. Thanks, MidJourney. Good enough like space data centers’ cost estimates.
The IEEE Spectrum published “Why Orbital Data Centers Are Harder than Silicon Valley Thinks” suggests that some modest problems have to be solved in a cost-effective way. The write up says:
…the cost to launch and run a GPU in space for a year is at least an order of magnitude higher than the same feat in a terrestrial data center.
One might quibble with an esteemed publication like IEEE Spectrum, but I suggest the statement about costs is wildly inaccurate. Why? Let’s look at what the write up does not dwell upon:
- The engineering costs of the gizmos to be launched into orbit. One can’t place an order on Amazon and get free next day delivery.
- The manufacturing design, development, component production, and assembly is not handled with an email to TSC or a Chinese specialty manufacturing facility.
- The engineering and figuring out how to get a bunch of modular components to snap together without traditional specialists. The rockets’ cargo has to removed from spacey shrink wrap and assembled. The humanoids can’t just live in a Holiday Inn for the days, weeks, or months required to get the puppy online.
- What’s the cost of putting effective defense against satellite-based or ground-launched weapons? There is a war or two going on, and steerable satellites can just cruise parallel to a porky space-based data center and take electronic or kinetic action. Heck, a nudge with a suicide satellite might do the trick as well. I can’t produce a statement of work for the security a space-based data center would require, but I know that buzzing BAE Systems or Lockheed Martin won’t get a product shipped in a week or two.
- Replacing a bum component. I know that IBM charges for a “roll” when one of its Fancy Dan computers goes bad. The last “roll” my team required was in the $1,000 range and that’s just to drive over. The transportation, specialized equipment, and humanoid who knows how to do a simple thing might be more expensive. How much more? I think twice as expensive is a low ball.
The write up correctly identifies cooling as a big engineering physics challenge. Why? Radiating hot components requires some work. Why not loft up air conditioning units and plug them into those solar panels? Yeah, why not? The big boy rockets are not exactly stable and some of these envisioned components weigh a lot, take time to produce, and have to be hooked up. Maybe there are some clever robots able to do this assembly, but right now, when I hear “robots”, I think China. Yeah, that could be a problem, couldn’t it?
Maybe a whiz kid like Elon Musk will invent a way to power and cool a data center in space. Skip those solar panels and go directly to a non-existent low orbit nuclear reactor. That might be a bit of work. Launching radioactive materials on big boy rockets that go boom at the wrong time might consume some consulting hours.
Net net: Sure, space based data centers are possible. The engineers can visualize and hypothesize solutions. Going from a mental image of a solution to a data center in a low earth orbit is a different kettle of half baked fish. But the IEEE Spectrum is slightly more realistic than some other write ups about this “obvious” solution to earthly data centers. Yep, if we build it they will come. Sure they will.
Stephen E Arnold, June 19, 2026
One Big Data Center Begets Another: Power, Water, Heat, Noise? No Problem
May 22, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
Yep, here’s another post about data centers. Many years ago, wrote an article about storage for Online Magazine. I think that write up won an award in 2000 or so. The main point is that 16 years ago, storage regardless of type was a wall flower at the computer prom. Flash forward to 2026, data centers are moving into discos, bars, restaurants, and most places. Some in Memphis, Tennessee, have learned that living next to Elon Musk’s jet turbine powered facility produces sound waves that jostle one’s intestines. The Musky facility is not that big when compared to some other “if we build it, they will come” monuments to the next big thing.
I read “This AI Data Center Will Be Bigger Than 2,000 Walmarts and Dump 23 Atom Bombs Worth of Energy into the Environment Every Day — and Locals Are Terrified.” The atom bomb reference snagged my attention. These facilities are boxes stuffed with computers and assorted gear, cables, and blinking boxes.
Data center professionals feel the heat and smell the success of their new facility. Thanks, Venice.ai. Good enough.
The write up offers this statement:
The proposed campus reportedly spans around 40,000 acres in Box Elder County, Utah, an area larger than many major cities. Some estimates compare the total footprint to roughly 2,000 Walmart stores combined. Others note the project boundary is more than twice the size of Manhattan.
Utah certainly has vacant land. Water and power? Yeah, these may present a problem in the future. The owners of the 2,000 Walmart-sized facility won’t be living next door. Maybe a visit to Park City or a 4×4 based glamping weekend in Arches National Park?
The write up points out:
But, beyond the physical size is the electricity demand. Developers say the facility could eventually require up to 9 gigawatts of power. For perspective, Utah’s current statewide electricity demand typically peaks around 4 to 5 gigawatts. That means a single AI-focused campus could theoretically consume more power than the entire state currently uses. To support that level of energy demand, developers plan to build large natural gas power plants directly on site instead of relying solely on the public electrical grid. This concerns environmental groups as it could dramatically increase carbon emissions across the region while creating massive amounts of waste heat in the valley.
In case you are not hip to the natural resources of Utah, it has one interesting characteristic. The uranium capital of the world used to be Moab. Plus, uranium ore can be found in the Colorado Plateau, Wayne County, the Colorado and Green River basins, and some other places as well. If Utah needs power, someone might consider nuclear for the big dog data centers. Who doesn’t want a modular nuclear reactor near their home?
The write up states:
Critics fear the combination of large-scale power generation, industrial development and rising temperatures could accelerate desertification and worsen air quality in surrounding communities. Some researchers have warned about potential “heat island” effects while others worry the development could contribute to long-term dust problems similar to growing concerns around the shrinking Great Salt Lake.
Several observations seem to be warranted:
- Utah has uranium. Maybe someone will think, “Hey, with some milling and processing, we’ve got a way to boil water, turn turbines, and make lots of electricity.
- Expanding uranium operations in Utah may require some fancy dancing. Here’s a quick anecdote. I found myself on a tour with my wife of several scenic areas in Utah. On the trip was a real, live PhD geologist. When I asked questions about uranium reserves and mining operations, he just looked at me blankly. I pressed him, and he then avoided me. Some people in Utah don’t want tourists running around Moab with Geiger counters I concluded. My first trip to Utah was to visit my employer’s nuclear related operations in Utah and adjacent states. Grants, New Mexico, was an interesting excursion too.
- The water issue will be an interesting one to follow. Do you remember studying the Great Salt Lake? Well, if you want to see it with water, you may want to hurry. But there is snow in the mountains, you might think. I think you mean, there may be snow in the mountains in the future. But there is ground water, right? I think you want to get current information about how the ground water levels have changed over the last 10 years.
One big data center is a precursor to more big data centers. That power and water stuff is going to be more significant than the heat and noise outputs. I am glad I am old. The one glimmer of hope is that this “industrial” approach to AI will be unnecessary when more efficient methods are available. Until then, visit Memphis. See, hear, and feel the future at the Grok/xAI Colossus data center in Memphis. It is located on the site of the former Electrolux plant in at 3231 Paul Lowry Road.
Memphis, TN 38109
Stephen E Arnold, May 22, 2026
Cutting a Deal Using Hatfield-McCoy Method
May 19, 2026
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Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
Elon Musk and Sam Altman are engaged in a complex legal dust up. One notable characteristic of the trial is the number of childish, petty, and duplicitous behaviors presented by both sides. If I were in this type of high stakes AI game, I would be somewhat cautious in my dealings with Elon (Full Self Driving) Musk.
I read “Musk Once Called Anthropic Evil. He Is Now Powering His Woke Competitor’s AI Expansion.” The Euro News article says:
Musk’s SpaceX has leased its Colossus 1 supercomputer to Anthropic, giving Claude’s maker a massive compute boost despite a previously bitter rivalry.
I immediately thought, “Trust.”
Thanks, Venice.ai. Two young executives has become two geezers. Close enough.
The article continues:
The deal gives Anthropic access to more than “more than 300 megawatts of new capacity [and] over 220,000 NVIDIA GPUs within the month,” according to a subsequent Anthropic statement, and will directly benefit subscribers to its Claude Pro and Claude Max plans. A Musk-Anthropic union is as unlikely as they come. The man who called Anthropic “evil” and a company that “hates Western civilization” a mere months ago now controls the infrastructure powering the expansion of Claude and enabling the rollout of extended programs for its paying users.
Euro News points out:
The company’s entire brand identity is built on “responsible AI,” and its models are trained with Constitutional AI, a framework with baked-in ethical constraints that Claude’s developers say makes it more likely than its competitors to decline requests, express uncertainty about sensitive topics or push back on prompts it deems harmful.
I wonder if Elon Musk is aware of the criminal investigation into Grok in France. Is Anthropic considering this investigation? The article reports:
The ultimate hit that collapsed Grok’s brand came in early 2026 when the chatbot generated at least 1.8 million sexualized depictions of women over nine days, along with imagery of minors, triggering investigations by regulators across Europe, Asia and the United States.
On the surface, Anthropic gets compute. As the company moves forward with opportunities in Europe, will the tie up with Elon Musk become an issue? I predict that some questions about the interaction of Mr. Musk’s infrastructure and Anthropic will be surface in some French government circles.
It will be interesting to see how this “deal” plays out. In the meantime, the Musk-Altman legal matter provides an opportunity to learn more about these two big AI tech luminaries (BAIT) approach their business relationships. A dispute between Mr. Musk and Anthropic, if one surfaces, will produce more information about the business methods of BAIT outfits.
Stephen E Arnold, May 19, 2026
Insurance: A Data Center Issue of Some Financial Import
May 12, 2026
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Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
There is nothing like a write up about insurance to make one’s endorphins spike. I read an article on Moneywise titled something like “Amazon Lost $150 Million When Drones Hit Its Gulf-State Data Centers Amid the Iran War — And Insurance Won’t Cover It.”
I wanted to show shooting fish (data centers) in a barrel. But guard rails are in place to make sure I don’t damage the sensibilities of those humans and bots reading my blog posts. So, you get a person fishing for a big catch in a small fish bowl. I love AI generated illustrations. Yes, Venice.ai. Just good enough like those insurance policies with small typography.
The article reported on April 24, 2026:
The AWS facilities weren’t random targets. As geopolitical tensions escalate, data centers — the backbone of cloud computing, AI and digital services — are increasingly viewed as strategic infrastructure. They underpin communications, logistics, payments and military planning …
War is one of those things for which insurance companies are thrilled to process claims. No big surprise. When bad weather trashes an insured house, those insurance companies often huddle with their lawyers and actuaries to figure out how to keep whatever cash they have on hand in their piggy bank.
The cited article added:
For tech giants, that can mean hundreds of millions of dollars. For smaller businesses that rely on cloud infrastructure, it can mean lost revenue during outages, limited compensation for disruptions or higher insurance premiums going forward.
I noted this passage and the big number in it:
Amazon’s reported $150-million hit is a warning shot: even the world’s largest companies aren’t insulated from geopolitical risk, and neither are the systems consumers depend on.
With regard to Amazon, overheating at some of the firm’s data centers surfaced as a minor problem. Heat, however, is a known issue. The overheating creates an opportunity to ask a couple of questions: Was the engineering of the cooling systems subject to some efficiency decisions that make overheating more likely, not a non-issue? Were decisions made with regard to the robustness of the cooling infrastructure so that if one system were stressed another “system saver” subsystem kicked in?
Now the implication of the Moneywise story is that Amazon’s data centers located in or near a war zone were not hardened. These data centers are now subject to targeting by forces hostile to Amazon or the country in which the data centers are located.
Let’s consider Amazon’s options:
- Harden existing data centers as part of the service restoration process. The question is, “How much will post construction and post remediation cost?” My thought is that the costs could be substantial.
- Build more robustly engineered and hardened data centers elsewhere. The cost of this rather dramatic shift means that Amazon loses good will in the countries on the periphery of the war zone with no guarantee these relocated facilities would not be targeted with additional strikes to emphasize the vulnerability of very large flat roofed, exposed structures.
- Repair existing damaged data centers and absorb the costs of remediation if additional strikes hit home.
I have not seen an analysis of the vulnerabilities of other US-linked data centers in the war zone. With no resolution of the US-Iran conflict in hand, data centers make attractive targets. Replacement infrastructure is simply not a matter of waiting for a two-day delivery via DHL. The key point is that traditional design and engineering of data centers makes them obvious targets to make clear the vulnerability of MBA-type assumptions. Is Amazon alone? Nope. Other US firms are in the same predicament.
Stephen E Arnold, May 12, 2026
About Those Data Centers. Yeah, the Ones with Targets on Satellite Imagery. Those Data Centers
May 4, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
I read “Amazon Stuck with Months of Repairs After Drone Strikes on Data Centers.” The write up contained a number of factoids I found interesting. One example is the statement “AWS stops billing Middle East cloud customers as repairs to war damage drag on.”
Let’s think about this statement, assuming that it indeed accurate.
Thanks, Venice.ai. Good enough for an act of generosity.
Amazon, for some in the conflict zone and peripheral areas, synonymous with cloud computing. I would argue that in certain areas Microsoft Azure has a more prominent profile. For the present discussion, let’s focus on Amazon. The company does not publish a name, location, and facility capability description for each of its infrastructure locations in Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia,Oman, and Qatar. But Amazon lists AWS regions and availability zones and direct connect locations, usually providing the city and the country. With that information, it is not too difficult to pinpoint the exact location of Amazon facilities by [a] asking a taxi driver if one is in country, [b] making some contact with government-linked business “facilitator,” or [c] getting some gig work market research via Fiverr.com.
My point is that the article makes clear that at this point in time (May 2, 2026 at 236 pm US Eastern time) Amazon has a number of facilities that could become targets at any time. This adds to the challenge Amazon and other data center operators face in contentious parts of the world. How can these facilities defend themselves against drone attacks? If attacked, how can the damaged facility be repaired and returned to “normal” operation?
The reason I bring this up is that the cited article makes a big deal about Amazon not billing Middle East cloud customers for the damage that has occurred. That’s okay. There are some problems that plague the approach:
- So far Amazon has been able to cope with the damage to the handful of its data centers; however, the implication in the write up in my opinion is that getting these facilities back to pre-attack status is not quick and easy. Those two factors translate into costs. Amazon is investing in AI; the company is terminating some employees who are not productive. The “grace period” cannot be extended indefinitely it seems to me.
- If hostilities flare up, data centers are easily identified without help from nations with satellite imagery. This means that a coordinated attack could take out a number of data centers simultaneously. I can envision war planners thinking, “Why not take out the Bahrain and Saudi facilities on one day and then go after the Microsoft Azure facilities the next day?”
- Companies providing services to the large data center operators can also be easy and vulnerable targets. What defensive measures does Equinix-type companies have in place?
Let’s think about how commercial firms like Amazon can protect these quite large, easily findable, and highly vulnerable data centers. Options range from the use of World War II methods like sandbags, temporary defense shielding, and Kevlar shrouds. These are cheap and visible “protections.” The problem is that a drone only has to fly into a power or cooling vent, and the “off switch” can be flipped.
More robust defensive measures run into the same problems as the repairs to damaged facilities: Time, resources, and costs. Data centers vulnerable today will be vulnerable to some indeterminate time in the future. Thus, until the facilities are hardened, they are at risk.
If we think in terms of an aggressor attacking data centers owned by US companies in other countries, the attack surface becomes much larger.
Several observations are warranted:
- The success of attacks on the Amazon facilities makes clear that these structures were not designed, engineered, and constructed to withstand a drone- or other kinetic attack. That seems to have been what I would call an ill-considered decision. The reasons may range from keeping costs down or MBAs in the US don’t think too much about asymmetric issues.
- Data centers now under construction may require expensive hardening if these facilities are located in regions where they become large, easily located targets. Stated another way: The cost of those under construction data centers are likely to go up and require more time before they go online and produce revenue for their operators.
- Future data centers will warrant some design, engineering, and construction scrutiny. The success of Ukraine drone in damaging distant Russian infrastructure is a new factor at least for the “Z” folks.
The Ars Technica write up includes this passage:
The latest AWS status update comes just after another data center developer, the London-based Pure Data Centre Group, said it will pause Middle East data center investments until the ongoing Middle East conflict subsides.
Pure Data is thinking clearly. However, can one really go home again or step into the same river twice? The massive US investment in data centers makes these facilities even more attractive targets than they were when Amazon experienced its first attacks. Going forward, addressing the issue means data centers are going to get more expensive, not less expensive. Statements like “stop billing” might be tough to honor.
Stephen E Arnold, May 4, 2026
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