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An Amazon Web Services data center in Stone Ridge, Virginia, US, on Sunday, July 28, 2024.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Executives from Amazon and Nvidia provided insights on Thursday, asserting that the pace of constructing artificial intelligence (AI) data centers remains robust, despite growing recession concerns among investors who are speculating about potential slowdowns in technology company investments.
Kevin Miller, Amazon’s vice president of global data centers, stated during a conference organized by the Hamm Institute for American Energy that the demand for data centers shows no signs of decline. “There’s been really no significant change,” he remarked, emphasizing that both immediate and long-term forecasts for demand are increasingly positive.
This outlook contrasts sharply with recent speculation on Wall Street suggesting that some tech firms may be re-evaluating their data center expansion plans. Analysts from Wells Fargo indicated on Monday that Amazon Web Services has reportedly paused certain lease commitments related to data centers, a move that has prompted fears about a trend similar to Microsoft’s recent adjustments in their early-stage projects.
Miller addressed these concerns by suggesting that interpretations of Amazon’s plans have been overly speculative. He highlighted that “there’s been little tea leaf reading and extrapolating to strange results.”
From Nvidia’s perspective, there are no indications of a slowdown in demand either. Josh Parker, the company’s senior director of corporate sustainability, confirmed, “We haven’t seen a pullback.” He noted that earlier this year, a selloff in power stocks occurred following the emergence of China’s AI startup DeepSeek, raising concerns about energy consumption in data centers and their reliance on power. However, Parker characterized the market’s reaction to DeepSeek as overly dramatic and emphasized that Nvidia anticipates continued growth in energy and compute demand driven by advancements in AI technologies.
Jack Clark, co-founder of Anthropic, projected that by 2027, an additional 50 gigawatts of power capacity will be necessary to support the burgeoning AI sector, equivalent to the output of approximately 50 new nuclear power plants. “What we’re seeing is tremendous growth in the need for new baseload power. We’re seeing unprecedented growth,” Clark asserted.
These remarks were made during a conference in Oklahoma City that convened tech and energy leaders to discuss strategies for meeting the expanding energy requirements associated with AI. A consensus is emerging in both the technology and energy sectors indicating that natural gas will play a crucial role in satisfying these escalating power demands.
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