Amazon Building Enormous Data Center Complex in Southern Indiana

What Happened?

Amazon has announced plans to build 30 data centers just outside New Carlisle, Indiana. The site, which already holds seven football field sized data centers, will ultimately contain hundreds of thousands of specialized computer chips and miles of connecting fiber. The entire complex will eventually form one giant machine built exclusively for artificial intelligence.

The physical characteristics of the facility reveal the scale of the project. At its peak, the new facility will consume 2.2 gigawatts of electricity, which is enough to power a million homes. The facility will also use millions of gallons of water annually to keep the chips from overheating.  

Why it Matters

The entire complex is being built for a single customer, the A.I. start-up Anthropic, which has a stated goal of creating an A.I. system capable of matching the human brain in terms of function and complexity. Data center construction has been on the rise in the past several years, but the Amazon project, called Project Rainer, in New Carlisle is one of the largest and most ambitious AI projects in the United States.

As more segments of the economy embrace AI use, providers of AI services will require larger and more powerful data centers to support the new applications and customers. Meta, for example, is already building stand alone power plants exclusively to support data centers and AI operations. Amazon’s entrance into the data center race is not surprising, but the company’s unique goal sets it apart from most of the competition.

The human brain contains as many neurons as there are stars in the cosmos, making it the most complex computer on earth. Matching that complexity will require a massive number of resources, and Amazon may have enough to complete the ambitious project. Beyond the mere physical and financial resources, wiring data centers together to work collectively the way the brain does remains a daunting scientific challenge because the brain itself is still not fully understood by modern science.

Even if Amazon can match the amount of raw computing and processing power necessary to rival the human brain, there is no current blueprint for combining those resources in such a way as to mimic the brains function. Which means Amazon will need massive resources and a scientific breakthrough to create a machine that can match the human brain.

Though Amazon has yet to announce a completion date for the New Carlisle facility, it has told government regulators it will need over two gigawatts of electricity by 2030, suggesting all thirty data centers could be up and running by then. The project could also mean thousands of jobs and millions in revenue for the local economy.

How it Affects You

The race to build ever more powerful AI capabilities is well underway, and the impact those AI programs will have on society and the economy remain to be seen. But the scale and scope of efforts like Amazon’s Project Rainier indicate the AI race is heating up.