to be decided on Nostr: > The key difference between Bitcoin mining and AI/HPC data centers is in their ...
> The key difference between Bitcoin mining and AI/HPC data centers is in their energy consumption patterns. Bitcoin mining can ramp up or throttle down their energy usage on a dime. This flexibility makes them perfect for balancing out the fluctuating energy supply from renewables.
> On the other hand, AI data centers need 24/7 uptime. This means they're not as adaptable to the ebbs and flows of renewable energy.
Don't know anything about data centers / AI data centers so maybe this doesn't make sense, but: aren't there two well distinguishable operating modes / work loads for data centers?
(A) Responding to requests from some user who interacts with an App/AI model/website: these need to be instant, otherwise the usability is just bad
(B) Training models / crunching numbers / solving equations where the result has to be obtained within a reasonable time scale (days/weeks)
On my local computer I can just send the signal to a running process and it will pause. Instantly. I'd guess this can be done in data centers as well.
So I think there are probably AI data centers and tasks (B) that _can_ indeed provide flexible loads to an electrical grid. Not all of them, but surely some.
A while back I thought that maybe part of the reasons why Microsoft is building a large data center in Germany is that they'll regularly have electricity for negative prices for sizable shares of time (noon peak of PV) if the PV buildout continues as it currently goes.
> On the other hand, AI data centers need 24/7 uptime. This means they're not as adaptable to the ebbs and flows of renewable energy.
Don't know anything about data centers / AI data centers so maybe this doesn't make sense, but: aren't there two well distinguishable operating modes / work loads for data centers?
(A) Responding to requests from some user who interacts with an App/AI model/website: these need to be instant, otherwise the usability is just bad
(B) Training models / crunching numbers / solving equations where the result has to be obtained within a reasonable time scale (days/weeks)
On my local computer I can just send the signal to a running process and it will pause. Instantly. I'd guess this can be done in data centers as well.
So I think there are probably AI data centers and tasks (B) that _can_ indeed provide flexible loads to an electrical grid. Not all of them, but surely some.
A while back I thought that maybe part of the reasons why Microsoft is building a large data center in Germany is that they'll regularly have electricity for negative prices for sizable shares of time (noon peak of PV) if the PV buildout continues as it currently goes.