hyperion (13. 108)

Named after the solar deity, a Titan whom according to several theogonies sired the Sun, Moon and Dawn in an incestuous act, the ambitious data centre that Meta—having recently abandoned and embraced telepresence—is constructing in the marshland of northern Louisiana, on the foundations likely of vacated Alligator Alcatraz. Difficult to grasp the scale of this project, the footprint of the structure spanning over five miles in length and more than a mile wide in the middle of no where, we are directed towards this tool which will overlay the massive building in perspective of any given address in the States and next to landmarks and routes that one may have walked, like Central Park in New York City, the National Mall in Washington DC, dwarfing the heretofore largest office space in the world, the Pentagon or the arrondissements of Paris. This wager on AI is being seen as increasingly risky and may fail to deliver a return on investment and couching the size of these data centres, which are seeing a building boom with Meta not the only player, in a familiar setting helps one understand the new nimbyism (I’d much rather a windmill in my backyard) with these sprawling projects that may not contribute to the local economy and have raised utility prices for the surrounding communities.