Data Center News Roundup: Chips Subsidies and The Toll of AI

With data center news moving faster than ever, we want to make it easy for data center professionals to cut through the noise and find the most important stories of the week.

The Data Center Knowledge News Roundup brings you the latest news and developments across the data center industry — from investments and mergers to security threats and industry trends.

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1. After Four-Year Pause, Singapore Resumes Data Center Construction

Four years ago, Singapore instituted a moratorium on domestic data center construction. Now, Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has issued four limited capacity licenses for new data center construction. Equinix, Microsoft, and ByteDance (the Chinese parent company of TikTok) are among those granted a provisional license.

2. When AI Takes Jobs, Not All Is Equal

New research from the McKinsey Global Institute found that women workers, Black and Hispanic workers, and workers without college degrees are overrepresented in the industries most likely to be replaced by artificial intelligence, including food services, customer service and sales, and office support. McKinsey’s report anticipates over 12 million jobs in the United States could be automated by 2030.

3. AI Puts Strain on London Data Center Water Supply

Thames Water, the utility company that serves the greater London area, is considering adding new water use restrictions for London’s data centers. Measures are intended to relieve the impacts of climate change, the higher demands of AI processing, and the company’s aging infrastructure, which loses over 630 million liters of water each day.

4. Germany Introduces New Subsidies in Chips Race

In an effort to bolster its tech sector in the face of ongoing geopolitical tension and economic uncertainty, the German government is planning a €20 billion subsidy for domestic semiconductor manufacturing. The subsidy, drawn from the Climate and Transformation Fund, will add to an existing €10 billion in aid for a new Intel plant.

5. Labor Shortage May Halt Chips Industry Expansion

In other chips-related news, as the Biden administration tries to expand domestic chipmaking, low college graduation rates in STEM fields indicate that many critical roles may be difficult to fill. Chipmakers are projecting 115,000 new jobs for engineers, computer scientists and technicians by 2030, but a study of current degree completion rates, suggests 58% of those positions will remain unfilled.

Other Great Data Center Reads

HoMEDUCS's Unique Approach to Keeping Modular Data Centers Cool. In this case study, we look at how University of California, Davis’ Holistic Modular Energy-efficient Directed Cooling Solutions (HoMEDUCS), one of fifteen Department of Energy-funded COOLERCHIPS projects, is using revolutionary cooling technology to make modular data centers more energy-efficient. Stay tuned for more Data Center Knowledge reporting on the COOLERCHIPS projects in the coming weeks.

How Can Data Centers Reduce Water Usage and Improve Efficiency? With Thames Water’s potential water restrictions in mind, our sister site InformationWeek explores the current state of data center water use and conservation as we become increasingly reliant on data center services.

That’s all for this week. Which of these stories is most important to you? Let us know in the comments below!