Xbox cloud servers are literally 5 motherboards: 1 management board and 4 Xbox ones. Developers can optimize for a single configuration rather than bake in support for multiple ones. Once it works on an Xbox dev kit, it works on all Xboxs including cloud, console, and handheld. SDKs are making that a thing in the past, but it’s not perfect.
I feel that it is more in-depth and more accurate than most media on it. They acknowledge that they had to personify it to appeal to humanity. Despite being in the thick of it, I do think it’s a good video to share to those lesser in the know. They explain it in easy to digest language without glossing over the technical workings of it. They are anti-Ai purely out of self-preservation and admit it in another video (which is manipulative).
They are sitting in the warehouse because there aren’t enough other parts (e.g. DIMMs), power, or data centers for them. And as stupid as AI bullshit is, they are paying more than gamers by orders of magnitude.
Xbox and PC versions aren’t exactly 1:1. Plus, those are extremely expensive GPUs to not be selling for top dollar to the AI bros instead.
Edit- I’m leaving out things like architecture, shaders, tensor cores, NVIDIA vs AMD, SXM vs PCI-E, etc.
They aren’t the same GPUs that are in Xboxs. those are nvidia GPUs eg the nv72 or gb300. There’s no way to make them compatible with Xbox. Source: my unc works at Microsoft data centers.
Hi. I live in Loudoun County and work for a hyperscaler data center. I want to clear up a lot of misinformation. Amaa. I do have to respect my NDA.
First, data centers absolutely employ hundreds of people. It depends on the kind of data center. An edge site that is for interconnects only needs a couple of people, but a core site with between 20 to 100 megawatts absolutely has around 100 employees once you include breakfix/smart hands technicians, critical environment techs, cable techs, electrical engineers, managers, and other support staff. AI data centers fall in or exceed that range.
Another issue is the taxes are usually on the computers themselves as property taxes. This is actually gargantuan, and make up about 45% of Loudoun County’s operating budget. Usually, there are no taxes on the building or property itself since the computers are worth more and are taxed at a higher rate. That said, then COVID happened, and decommissions and procurement grinded to a halt. Computers are depreciating assets, so as they sharply dropped in value but stayed in production, the county had a budget shortfall for '21 snd '22.
Another parroted point that is related is that “taxes aren’t getting reduced for residents”. This is actually untrue. The tax rate has dropped from $1.20 to $0.80 over the last decade, but the issue is that property values have skyrocketed. In addition, one of the VA colleges found no link between data centers’ proximity to residential properties and those properties decreasing in value in NoVA.
Now, it may seem that I’m “pro-data center”. I am not. I’ve worked in them for 7 years. There are many things they could do to be better neighbors with everyone. However, a lot of the anti-data center sentiment is manufactured outrage. Dominion Power doesn’t want to spend money on infrastructure and preventative maintenance; I’ve watched 4 transformers on my street and neighboring street blow in the last year. News companies fear AI and search engines replacing clicks and ad revenue. Golf courses don’t want to have their water use compared to data centers, cause its not even close to the same ballpark.
Is air and noise pollution an issue? Yes. However, perhaps Dominion Power should make good on its promises and hook up Vantage 2; the data center in Sterling that runs off of its own gas turbines because Dominion told them they can’t have any power after they completed the data center. It’s not like data centers are built with no promise of utilities; contracts were signed beforehand… Up to 10 years beforehand. Or when the substation in Leesburg caught fire, causing the 5 Microsoft data centers to run generators for a month while NOVEC failed to source transformer components after promising that they would be back up and running in 48 hours. The SCC then fined Microsoft millions for breaking a rule they wouldn’t have to if the power companies didn’t overpromise and underdeliver. Forget a moratorium, there’s no more power in LoCo.
I put my money where my mouth is. I bought 30 solar panels and a battery system. Dominion Power tried to steal from residents already, trying to change the net metering rate from 1:1 to 1:0.15. This would mean that they would pay me 15% of what I pay them for each kilowatt generated and sent back to the grid. Thankfully, the SCC shot that down.
And they are pursuing a merger with NextEra Energy to form the largest regulated utility in the world… A company that large wouldn’t be regulated anymore.
GenAI is a whole new ballgame.
I got Lasik last year. I could smell it, but idk about that being the worst. I did not care for the calipers that held the eyelids out if the way, or the machine physically suctioning onto the eye itself. I got a lil Valium (thank goodness) and a teddy bear. The bear was forced into my hands, and I remember thinking “oh, the fluff is missing from the middle. I wonder why that is.” when the suction was applied, I squeezed it so I didn’t move or anything. Hands fell right into the cavity of missing fluff. “oh, that’s why” I thought.
Ah, I may have to clarify that technically Microsoft isn’t the AI bro I’m referring to, though they do partake in the insanity. I’m referring to OpenAI specifically. “circular financing” and all that, but Microsoft is more of the hosting provider for OpenAI.