NVIDIA and OpenAI are talking about building a 10 Gigawatt AI data center — a project so massive it would consume as much electricity as an entire country like Switzerland or Belgium.
But is it actually possible? In this video, DJ and HAL break down the math:
• How much coal, nuclear fuel, solar, wind, and tidal power would be required
• The logistics of delivering fuel and handling cooling at this scale
• Why even backup systems (UPS) run into walls of practicality
We’ll also ask the bigger question: Do we even need AI factories this large, or is this just corporate vanity?
Part 2 will explore whether 10 GW AI factories are truly necessary — and how they might work at 33% less cost if approached differently.
Comment below if you want me to make Part 2!
Chapters
00:00 - Intro
00:11 - NVisia - OpenAI Headline
01:13 - Coal Fired Power Plants
02:16 - Nuclear Powerplants
04:11 - Solar Collectors
05:05 - Wind Power
05:36 - Tidal Power
06:38 - Hydroelectric Power
08:19 - Massicw Cooling
09:41 - Resiliance
11:06 - Final Thoughts