We live in a dystopia now. We're at the point where an AI data center developer, having made big promises it hasn't kept, has brought in a barge once used to imprison immigrants to house extra construction contractors, reports Futurism.
The project is a 30-megawatt data center under construction in Glomfjord, Norway. Behind this project is Nscale, a British company that promises to do all the dirty work, from construction and hardware acquisition to dealing with all those pesky local regulators. They then lease facilities out to major players in the AI world. In theory, it's one-stop shopping for the likes of Google, Anthropic, and the like, without having to do any of the actual work themselves.
One problem with this plan is that Nscale, and other companies like it, have taken a page right out of the AI playbook: overpromise and underdeliver. The Glomfjord project is running six months behind schedule. It's currently only providing 6.4 megawatts of computing power instead of the promised 30.
According to Bloomberg, some of the delays have been the result of shoddy manufacturing, overworked employees, and a lack of health and safety standards. There have been major cooling system problems, which is a strange problem to have north of the Arctic Circle. A high-voltage cable was left outside to deteriorate for six months before being connected, with the completely predictable and avoidable result of an electrical fire. And then there's the issue of using a floating detention barge as housing. To say this project has issues would be an understatement.
A pre-fab housing 'solution'
Nscale has hired hundreds of additional contractors to get the beleaguered project back on track. But Glomfjord is a town of around 1,000 people, and all the hotel rooms are already occupied. There was nowhere to put all these extra workers. So Nscale has brought in the rather drab-looking Accommodation Barge Kalmar to house them all.
According to Chevalier Flotels, the Kalmar brings 220 cabins, each with TV, WiFi, and shared bathrooms. The barge also has two on-board restaurants, recreation and office areas, laundry facilities, and a bar, which makes it sound like a bit of a resort. In contrast, Chevalier Floatels' website also lists the Kalmar as one of its floating refugee centers, able to accommodate up to 680 people in this configuration. Bloomberg reports that it was once used to detain migrants in the Netherlands. I have a feeling the bar wasn't open.
Even if the Kalmar isn't currently configured to be a floating prison, it brings with it the same risks of disease as a cruise ship. Anywhere that crams a large number of people into a small, confined space like this has such risks. And considering how well Nscale has managed this project so far, it's probably best to stay out of the hot tubs.
So basically, data center companies are scamming the AI companies, who, in turn, are scamming investors, creating a bubble that will inevitably burst. Projects cost too much, take too long, and break down regularly because they're built poorly. Temporary contractors are brought in to build them, and the workers literally live in a prison ship. Welcome to late-stage capitalism at its finest.