AI is killing the cheap smartphone

Re:AI is killing the cheap smartphone by Eric_WVGG on Friday May 22, 2026 @06:34PM (#48242481)

I’m of the (possibly unpopular) opinion that ~80% of these new data centers are never going to see the light of day.

None of the economics or supply needs of these things make any sense. The water is generally not there, electric transformers are next to impossible to acquire. I just read about one in Utah that’s supposed to be 2.5x the size of Manhattan?? https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/933687/u...

I could be wrong, but I think a lot of this was planned by software guys who are used to brute-forcing their way through “impossible” problems. But those were software problems, where the limits are mostly theoretical. In the world of atoms, limitations are real.

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Re:AI is killing the cheap smartphone by throwaway85825 on Friday May 22, 2026 @11:22PM (#48244316)

Neither transformers or water are the limiting factor, cash is. Right now the big 3 are taking all their profits and building data centers. If there's not an ROO they'll stop.

Transformers aren't so complex that production can't increase. Most water is used for agriculture and right now the data centers can pay more for it.

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