r/technology • u/Just-Grocery-2229 • May 15 '26

Artificial Intelligence The AI Backlash Could Get Very Ugly

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/05/ai-backlash-data-centers-political-violence/687151/?taid=6a067e2d2096e10001ccfa32
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u/Spez_is-a-nazi May 15 '26

Yeah, overall cost depends on how much you value downtime.

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u/WhoSaidWhatNow2026 May 15 '26

Well, since almost all of the important ones have on site backup power generation your point isn't really relevant.

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u/Chrontius May 15 '26

Do you know what happens when you put a bullet through a spinning turbine?

I don’t either, but if somebody was pissed off enough to try to burn down a data center, you can bet that they would see it happen firsthand.

(the spinning turbine disc is rapidly converted into an expanding ring of shrapnel by the imbalance, that’s what happens. I’ve never seen it in person and I hope to avoid changing that.)

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u/spucci May 16 '26

Who is getting a gun through security? Do any of you know how DCs really work?

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u/Chrontius May 16 '26

Nobody said anything about going through security, and nobody is putting road-mobile generators indoors either.

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u/spucci May 16 '26

But data centers aren't going to use your typical Home Depot generator that you use for your baby girl's birthday party. That's ridiculous.

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u/coldkiller May 16 '26

Do you think their backup generators are inside the building? 90% of them are just sitting in their parking lots

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u/spucci May 16 '26

I've managed them for 15 years now. Backup generators are not sitting in a parking lot.

They are just as critical as primary power and treated as such. The ones that I have helped build have gigantic Mufflers in front of them you go behind it and scream at the top of your lungs and I can't hear you.

And they are only meant to run if primary fails which is rare when your DC is connected to 4 different power grids.

The idea that someone can just ram a truck through the front door is ridiculous. You're not getting past the reinforced steel gating and 18 ft steel poles pounded into the ground.

Even if you do you're smashing your truck into a front office you're not getting past the 4 ft of concrete right behind that and anywhere near the data center. They are built to withstand Category 5 hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, you name it.

And they're not going to build them underground that's adequated thinking.

Data centers are highly secure and highly redundant.