Mark Zuckerberg is doing to AI datacentres what Elon Musk did to Tesla
Facebook's parent company,
Meta
, is reportedly constructing some of its new AI data centres inside tents. This move allows the social media giant to rapidly expand capacity at its existing data centre campuses. The strategy essentially mirrors an approach taken by Elon Musk's Tesla in 2018. At that time, Tesla built a new Model 3 assembly line in just two weeks within a large tent outside its main factory. This quick setup significantly increased the car's production, with the tented area reportedly contributing to 20% of all Model 3s produced that week.
According to a report by Business Insider, a company spokesperson, while confirming the news, has emphasised that the entire "supercluster" facility isn't solely tent-based. This comes days after company CEO
Mark Zuckerberg
announced that the company will spend tens and millions of dollars for several multi-gigawatt superclusters to ramp up its compute power.
What these tent-based data centres mean for Mark Zuckerberg's AI plans
These structures will provide Meta the necessary push in quickly deploying additional AI computing power. Data centres contain complex and expensive equipment that requires precise temperature control to prevent overheating. Building parts of these facilities in tents suggests a prioritisation of speed over traditional construction methods, the report noted.
According to SemiAnalysis (via Business Insider), Meta's embrace of this "speed above all else" data centre design is "inspired by xAI's unprecedented time-to-market." The report added that Meta is already building more such facilities, a development that will likely surprise traditional data centre and real estate investors.
SemiAnalysis, however, highlighted the use of 'prefabricated power and cooling modules' and 'ultra-light structures' to prioritise speed. However, operating data centres in tents presents challenges, particularly regarding heat. Tents can get very hot, potentially forcing Meta to temporarily shut down workloads during peak summer temperatures.
As per SemiAnalysis CEO Dylan Patel, while Meta will likely build permanent data centres in the long term, the company needs these facilities operational 'as soon as possible' in the short and medium term. He added that 'everyone is trying to build data centres as fast as possible in the race to achieve AGI,' and Meta is using tents to 'reduce construction bottlenecks' related to power, data center capacity, and construction crews.
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