What Is A Data Center and Why Are They Suddenly Everywhere?

August 6, 2026 | forbes.com

Data centers, once unseen infrastructure, are now being built everywhere. The brief explanation as to why is scale: soaring AI and cloud demand has made them much more noticeable. Data centers reliably store and process vast amounts of data. Many businesses have relied on them for decades, but what's changed is that data centers are now being built to train and run AI, which needs more power and specialized hardware. The growing demand of data centers brings significant challenges. While they bring economic benefits like construction jobs and tax revenue, their immense energy and water consumption strain local resources and grids. AI's power needs also make reliable energy access a bottleneck, pushing operators towards on-site generation and new locations.

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NJ SEED: FORBES provides a good overview of the growing visibility and importance of data centers. They are essential to the emerging AI economy, but there are tradeoffs when it comes to locations, energy, and water.