11/10/2024 What I Read Last Week
#DigitalInfrastructure news: AI, Data Center capacity, Quantum Computing
Weekly Edition of curated news about Digital Infrastructure
[Link] A really nice McKinsey article on AI power and data center capacity. I’ll let AI summarize it for me. The demand for data center capacity is projected to grow significantly, driven by the rise of AI technologies, with a potential shortfall by 2030. AI workloads are transforming data center design, necessitating innovations in location, cooling systems, and electrical infrastructure. This surge presents substantial opportunities for data center operators and related industries to invest and expand their capabilities to meet the evolving market needs.
[Link] The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board of Directors has approved a plan to supply 150 megawatts of power to the xAI data center in Memphis. Originally an industrial park, the site only had access to 8 MW of power from a nearby substation. Memphis Light, Gas & Water upgraded its capacity to 50 MW over the summer and the need for additional power triggered a request to TVA, as approval from the TVA Board is required for industrial customers using more than 100 MW of power.
It was a big week for quantum computing leader IonQ:
They announced a partnership with NKT Photonics, a subsidiary of Hamamatsu Photonics, to procure next-generation laser systems for IonQ’s trapped-ion quantum computers and networking equipment. NK Photonics will develop three prototype optical subsystems that will support the commercialization of IonQ’s data center-ready quantum computers.
IonQ announced it is developing photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and chip-scale ion trap technology for trapped ion quantum computing in partnership with imec, a world-renowned R&D center in nanoelectronics and digital technologies.
IonQ has partnered with Ansys to integrate quantum computing into the $10B computer-aided engineering (CAE) industry.
[Link] D-Wave announced that it has completed the calibration and benchmarking of a 4,400+ qubit Advantage2 processor. This milestone marks a significant step forward in D-Wave’s ongoing development of its sixth-generation annealing quantum computing system.
[Link] Rackspace announced the expansion of Rackspace Spot with a new geographic location and an on-demand GPU-as-a-Service powered by NVIDIA accelerated computing.
[Link] Ericsson invests $453 million into its Quantum Research Hub in Montreal, advancing quantum communications, AI-powered network management, and deepening partnerships with over 20 Canadian universities.
[Link] As a part of the DOE Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program (GRIPS) Generac has moved closer to utilizing a $50 million federal grant that would develop on-site power aggregation for water utilities throughout California.
[Link] Crunchbase - Global venture capital funding in October reached $32 billion, marking the highest month for startup investment so far in 2024.
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