In today's rapidly advancing world of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Microsoft and BlackRock have taken a significant step forward. The two giants announced the joint launch of a fund exceeding $30 billion, focusing on AI infrastructure investment, primarily covering data centers and energy projects. This major announcement was made on Tuesday and immediately generated a tremendous response in the global tech and finance circles. With the continuous advancement of AI technology, particularly the widespread application of deep learning and large-scale data processing models, the demand for computing power has shown explosive growth.

Recently, AI chip company Groq, based in California, has reached a partnership agreement with Saudi Arabia's oil giant Aramco to establish a large data center in Saudi Arabia. The aim of this data center is to enhance Saudi Arabia's capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence and further promote the diversification of the country's economy. Groq's CEO, Jonathan Ross, stated that the data center is expected to be operational by the end of the year, initially equipped with 19,000 Language Processing Units (LPUs). Image source note: Picture

Recently, an analysis by The Guardian revealed that there may be serious misleading practices by tech companies in handling the environmental impact of their AI data centers. The emission data reported by tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Apple significantly diverges from reality. According to this analysis, the actual emissions from these companies are 662% higher than the figures they officially disclose, and this is just the tip of the iceberg, as this study only covers data from 2020 to 2022. Image source note: Image generated by AI, image licensed from service provider Midjou.

Amazon's cloud computing division - Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently announced that they will invest $10 billion over the next five years to build, operate, and maintain data centers in the UK. Image source note: The image is AI generated and authorized by the provider Midjourney. This decision marks Amazon's further expansion in the UK, where the company established its first AWS region back in 2016, which includes centralized data centers. Additionally, AWS has three availability zones and two Waves in the UK.

The rapid development of AI technology has propelled GPUs to become a hot commodity worldwide, with Nvidia reporting significant growth in the second quarter, exceeding $30 billion in revenue. However, powerful GPUs require adequate data centers to support the AI demand. Nvidia, along with partners, is investing $160 million in Applied Digital to expedite the construction of data centers in North Dakota, aiming to provide data center and cloud services around Nvidia's GPUs. The construction of data centers is crucial, as GPUs are expensive.

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, the power consumption of data centers has received widespread attention, but their water consumption has also surged dramatically, posing a challenge to the sustainability goals of tech companies. Taking Virginia as an example, since 2019, water usage in data centers has skyrocketed by nearly 64%, with consumption exceeding 7 billion liters in 2023, handling approximately 70% of global internet traffic. High water consumption mainly stems from cooling systems and equipment maintenance needs. The expansion of AI technology has intensified pressure on water resources, prompting tech companies to optimize water usage strategies for sustainable development.

Nvidia's latest earnings report shows revenue reaching $30.4 billion, a 122% increase compared to the same period last year, exceeding analysts' expectations. Data center revenue grew by 154%, reaching $26.3 billion, becoming a focal point. Nvidia expects to set a new record for shipments next year, with founder and CEO Jensen Huang mentioning that the company's development is closely tied to the increasing complexity of AI models, aiming to drive an industrial revolution by reducing costs and expanding AI model scales. The significant growth in data center revenue reflects strong demand for AI.

The water consumption of data centers has skyrocketed, especially in Virginia, where it has nearly doubled from 2019 to 2023, reflecting a significant global demand for water resources. The water usage by tech giants Microsoft and Google indicates that substantial amounts of water are being consumed in areas facing water scarcity and extreme shortages. However, data centers struggle to implement closed-loop water recycling systems mainly because the water used for humidity control evaporates, particularly in dry regions, which may increase static electricity risks and be detrimental to equipment. As artificial intelligence becomes more widespread, the number of data centers and the demand for water resources continues to grow.

Goldman Sachs research predicts that by 2030, data center power demand will surge by 160%, primarily driven by the rapid development of artificial intelligence. A simple query using ChatGPT consumes up to 2.9 watt-hours of power, far exceeding the 0.3 watt-hours used for a typical Google search, highlighting the immense computational demand of AI. This growth will pose challenges to the power market, leading to increased electricity costs, particularly affecting residents near data center areas. By 2028, it is expected that artificial intelligence will account for a significant portion of the total power demand in data centers.

A study commissioned by Amazon Web Services (AWS) reveals that using AWS data centers for compute-intensive or artificial intelligence (AI) workloads results in a significant 98% reduction in carbon emissions compared to on-premises data centers. Accenture's research indicates that migrating IT workloads to cloud data centers is an effective strategy to minimize environmental footprints. AWS's global infrastructure is 4.1 times more efficient than on-premises data centers, and Indian organizations have the potential to achieve a 99% reduction in carbon emissions by optimizing AI workloads on AWS. This is attributed to AWS's hardware utilization.

AMD's Q2 sales show strong performance in the data center market, with Instinct MI300X GPU sales exceeding $1 billion and projected to generate over $4.5 billion in FY2024. Data center revenue rose 115% year-on-year to $2.8 billion, nearly half of total revenue. However, gaming revenue fell 59% due to decreased demand for Microsoft and Sony consoles. AMD expects continued decline in gaming revenue in Q3, but growth in data center and client produ....

In the semiconductor industry, AMD recently announced a significant development: Victor Peng, the company's president, will retire next month. As a pivotal figure in AMD's AI strategy, Peng's departure is sure to garner widespread attention within the industry.Since joining AMD in 2022, Victor Peng has been instrumental in driving the company's growth. Prior to AMD, he served as the president and CEO of Xilinx, a programmable chip design company, leading it for four years. Earlier, he had also w

金融巨头高盛的一份研究通讯警告称，大型科技公司已加大资本支出以推动生成式人工智能的发展，但尚未展示可持续的商业模式。该投行估计，在未来几年将有约1万亿美元用于数据中心、半导体、电网升级和其他人工智能基础设施。

Malaysia is rapidly rising to become a data center powerhouse in Southeast Asia and the entire Asian region. According to DC Byte's '2024 Global Data Center Index', Johor Bahru is the fastest-growing data center market in Southeast Asia. This market has attracted billions of dollars in data center investments from tech giants like Google, Nvidia, and Microsoft. James Murphy, General Manager of DC Byte for the Asia-Pacific region, noted that Johor Bahru is expected to surpass Singapore in the coming years to become the largest data center market in Southeast Asia.

Nvidia's market value surged by $277 billion in a single day, setting a record for the largest increase worldwide. Cramer believes Jensen Huang is more visionary than Elon Musk, leading the industrial revolution. Nvidia's successful transformation has made its data center business the main source of revenue. In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014, Nvidia's revenue grew by 265% year-over-year, and net profit increased by 769%.

Cisco and NVIDIA collaborate to provide AI hardware and software solutions, offering enterprise customers an alternative in data centers. NVIDIA's AI chips and platforms will be made available through Cisco, deepening the longstanding partnership between the two companies. Enterprise customers can access support through Cisco's partner ecosystem to adopt AI and automation technologies. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang stated that the collaboration with Cisco makes it easier for enterprises to access AI infrastructure and benefit from AI technology.

["A recent report by the International Energy Agency highlights that by 2026, the contributions of data centers, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrencies to global power demand may double, causing a significant impact on global energy reserves.", "The IEA estimates that these three sectors consumed approximately 460 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity globally in 2022, accounting for 2% of total global demand.", "The report also notes that the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence in large existing applications could significantly increase electricity consumption."]

Sapeon, an AI chip startup supported by South Korea's SK Group, announced on Thursday that its latest model, the SapeonX330, is now available for data centers, joining the global race for AI chip development against major competitors such as Nvidia.

NVIDIA and Hon Hai Technology Group have announced a partnership to establish an AI-driven data center at Foxconn's factory. The data center, named 'AI Factory', will leverage NVIDIA's hardware and software to provide AI services. Foxconn plans to extensively use NVIDIA's CPUs, GPUs, and networking technologies to offer AI data factory solutions for customers. The AI Factory will provide training and inferencing services in fields such as electric vehicles, robotics, and virtual simulations. Additionally, the two parties have partnered in the autonomous vehicle sector to utilize NVIDIA's latest driving chips.

China's SDS market grew by 7.7% year-on-year, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.3% over the next five years. The market size is expected to approach $3.8 billion by 2027. AI technology is driving users to actively deploy edge data centers. By 2027, the market for edge computing servers in China is expected to reach $11.1 billion. The capabilities of AIGC determine that it requires a large amount of unstructured data for applications, and inference demands will place higher requirements on the performance of data infrastructure.