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Data centers are facing a reckoning. Between pushback from local communities and tech enthusiasts who have had their hobbies upended by ever-increasing prices due to component shortages, the data center is now public enemy number one. Of course, there's a massive difference between an AI data center and a regular one , in that the AI data center costs are exorbitant and now require even more complicated hardware to ensure efficiency.

Breaking down the costs, companies building out AI data centers estimate the cost to be around $10 million and $20 million per megawatt for "AI-optimized" data centers. Meanwhile, the "hyperscalers," companies that are building out data centers to then rent out the compute housed inside to other AI companies, are looking at $45 to $55 billion per gigawatt. It's not just the building that eats costs, but the intense setup that's inside, including cooling, water, plus whatever the land underneath the data center costs.…