Latest news with #dataCentres
Irish Times
17 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Sales at Amazon Web Services Irish unit top €7bn
Revenues at the Irish web services arm of Amazon soared by €1 billion, or 16.5 per cent, to €7.09 billion last year. New accounts show that pretax profits at data centre firm, Amazon Data Ireland Services Ltd (ADSIL) increased by 23 per cent from €15.16 million to €22.96 million on the back of the soaring revenues in the 12 months to the end of December last. Currently, Amazon web services firm, Universal Developers LLC has plans before An Bord PleanalAn Bord Pleanálaned data centres with a combined power load of 73MW for the AWS data centre campus on a 65 acre land-holding at Cruiserath Road, Dublin 15. Tlandholding for ADSIL state that the company operates several data hub facilities and at the end of last year employed 1,682. READ MORE The company recorded comparatively low operating profits of €57.04 million after its total operating expenses amounted to €7.03 billion made up of €6.04 billion in administrative expenses and cost of sales of €997.23 million. The company recorded the pretax profit of €22.96 million after net interest payments of €50.18m off-set by a €16.1 million gain on the disposal of an asset are taken into account. Last year, Amazon in marking its 20 year anniversary in Ireland, revealed that its spend here since 2004 has amounted to more than €22 billion. Staff costs at ADSIL last year declined from €216.24 million to €196.93 million that included share based payments of €29.43 million and salaries of €146.32 million. The average number of employees in 2024 was 1,634. The company's spend on 'utilities' declined from €612.1 million to €595.8 million. The pay package for directors last year totalled €1.34 million that was made up of €451,000 in emoluments, €870,000 in shared based pay awards and €22,000 in pension contributions. Shareholder funds at the firm last year increased from €4.6 billion to €7.66 billion that arose mainly from the value of 'other reserve' increasing from €4.6 billion to €7.6 billion. The company last year recorded post tax profits of €3.1 million after incurring a corporation tax charge of €19.78 million. Revenues at another Amazon firm operating here, the Cork based Amazon CS Ireland Ltd (ACSI) - which operates a c–stomer service centre at Cork Airport Business Park – last year increased marginally from €298 million to €303.92 million. The company's administrative expenses totalled €311.44 million which was the main contributor to the company recorded a pretax loss of €11.17 million. The average numbers employed by the company last year dipped by 23 from 2,183 to 2,160. Staff costs decreased slightly from €136.16m to €135.3 million that included share based pay awards of €18.8 million. At the end of 2024, numbers employed had grown to 2,351.
Entrepreneur
3 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
When AI Meets Climate: Powering Progress Without Burning the Planet
Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands as a beacon of innovation, offering transformative advances across almost every sector. But as AI becomes more powerful and more pervasive, it brings with it a growing dilemma: its hunger for energy. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur United Kingdom, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. According to the IMF and other global observers, AI is becoming an increasingly large contributor to energy demand, driven by massive data centres, high-intensity model training, and real-time inference at scale. The question is no longer whether AI will impact the climate, it's how we ensure it helps rather than harms. Training a single large language model can consume as much energy as a small town uses in a week. As deployment scales across healthcare, finance, manufacturing and government, global data centre energy demand is expected to more than double by 2030. This growth is unsustainable without significant changes to infrastructure, regulation, and design philosophy. Ironically, some of the most promising use cases for AI are in making other systems more energy-efficient: Smart energy grids using AI for demand forecasting and renewable energy balancing using AI for demand forecasting and renewable energy balancing Building automation systems that optimise lighting, heating and cooling in real time that optimise lighting, heating and cooling in real time AI-enhanced chip design reducing the energy footprint of next-generation hardware reducing the energy footprint of next-generation hardware AI for battery management, as with Apple's new AI-powered system in iOS 19, which extends battery life by intelligently learning user behaviour We're also seeing innovations in neuromorphic computing and event-driven AI models (e.g. the Spiking Neural Network) which consume drastically less energy than traditional deep learning models, in some cases, approaching the efficiency of biological systems. In these scenarios, AI doesn't just "offset" its own footprint. It could eliminate meaningful power usage altogether, particularly when deployed on-device or in ultra-low-power environments like edge IoT. So, should AI have an energy label? Yes, and urgently. Consumers now expect energy ratings on fridges, washing machines and televisions. Shouldn't we expect the same transparency for AI? Imagine an AI system with an Energy Impact Rating, clearly indicating: Model training cost in kWh Inference energy per user session Hosting efficiency (green hosting or fossil-based? This would: Help customers and businesses choose responsibly Push vendors to optimise for energy as well as performance Allow regulators to set efficiency standards for AI For AI to continue driving economic growth without derailing net-zero targets, we need a shared response: Policymakers must create incentives for energy-efficient model design and deployment. Companies should disclose the energy use of their AI systems, not just the outcomes. Developers must bake energy constraints into their system design from day one. Investors should ask not only, "What can this model do?" but "What does it cost the planet to do it?" AI won't magically reach a zero-carbon footprint. But if we pair it with smart legislation, innovative engineering, and greater public transparency, it can become one of the greatest climate tools we have. The question is: will we demand it?
CTV News
3 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Alberta minister wants to see $100B in data centre infrastructure in next five years
Nate Glubish shakes hands with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith after Glubish was sworn into cabinet as Minister of Technology and Innovations in Edmonton, Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. (John Franson) Alberta Technology Minister Nate Glubish says he's hoping to see $100 billion worth of artificial intelligence data centres under construction within the next five years. Sign up for breaking news emails from CTV News Edmonton, right at your fingertips Such centres are filled with computer servers used by companies like Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, to develop and train large-scale artificial intelligence models. These centres, depending on size, require loads of electricity to run. In an interview, Glubish said Meta, as well as other major companies like Google and Amazon, are on the hunt for space, and he wants Alberta to be an option. 'That's where the home run comes in, in terms of increased investment, increased jobs and increased economic activity,' Glubish said. He added that, through the government's new data centre attraction strategy announced Wednesday, the government has created a 'concierge program' to attract companies to Alberta. 'We're already working with about a dozen companies that are looking very seriously at setting up a data centre in Alberta,' he said. 'We're working with them to help identify the fastest way through the regulatory framework to get their projects moving forward.' He said the ultimate goal is to create jobs and bring in much needed new tax revenue. Glubish said since Alberta's deregulated electricity market allows for off-grid power generation — permitting power generators to strike deals with private companies and supply them directly — the province is an ideal landing spot for many companies. 'The key there is off-grid means no risk to the grid in terms of reliability and affordability,' he said. 'Make no mistake, we are not going to let anything happen that compromises affordability or reliability for Alberta's electrical grid.' 'That's a no-go zone for Albertans.' This past January, during an extreme cold snap, high demand and unexpected generation outages led the Alberta Electric System Operator to issue an emergency grid warning asking Albertans to conserve power to avoid rolling blackouts. The operator reported that two days before the January grid warning, Alberta had hit a record level of power demand at 12,384 megawatts. But Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf told reporters Wednesday that Alberta's electricity grid could handle data centres. 'We have some room on our grid right now, but data centres can capture everything from 20 megawatts to 10,000 megawatts,' Neudorf said. 'We are trying to identify who's interested, what size, what are their needs and where would they like to go, so we can provide the best path for them. 'We have the ability, with our private industry, to scale up our generation very, very quickly, without it being dollars spent by the taxpayer or the government on behalf of the taxpayer.' On Wednesday, the Royal Bank of Canada's Climate Action Institute released a report that found if all data centre projects currently going through the regulatory approval process across the country were approved, they would account for 14 per cent of Canada's power needs by 2030. 'Canadian regulators are reviewing data centre applications with an estimated combined capacity of 15 gigawatts — enough to power seven out of 10 homes nationwide,' the report reads, noting that Alberta-based projects represent 6.5 gigawatts (or 6,500 megawatts) of capacity. 'Alberta, with ample natural gas and lower grid pressures, prefers data centres operate off-grid, minimizing the strain on public grids,' the report states. 'But powering AI through natural gas comes with an emissions cost that provinces will need to weigh.' The report said that if natural gas were to power six gigawatts of electricity for data centres, it would create an estimated 16 million tonnes of annual greenhouse gas emissions, although the use of carbon capture and storage could provide a partial offset. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2024
CBC
4 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Bell Canada to launch 6 AI data centres in B.C.
Telecom giant Bell Canada has announced plans to build six artificial intelligence data centres in B.C. Bell AI Fabric will create a "data centre supercluster" in the province beginning with a centre in Kamloops this June and another in Merritt by the end of the year. Mirko Bibic, president and CEO of Bell Canada, said he wants the project to become "the fabric for the AI economy for Canada." "To do it right here, you know, starting in B.C., is a testament to all the attributes that British Columbia has in terms of kind of the natural resources of the hydroelectric power, the innovation mindset, universities who are … ready, willing and able to join in," Bibic told the CBC. Kamloops to host 3 centres In addition to the first two locations, Bell AI Fabric plans to open another four AI data centres in the province. Two more will open in Kamloops in 2026 and 2027, while the final two locations have not yet been announced. Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops will be home to one of the data centres designed to host AI training and inference. Asked about the power supply needed to run the centres amid concerns about B.C. Hydro meeting future electrical demand, Bibic said he believes there is capacity in the B.C. Interior. He added that they picked Kamloops for three of the centres for its access to reliable clean energy and its "ideal climate." He promised Bell will hire local workers as it builds and manages the centres and noted Bell AI Fabric president, Dan Rink, is based in Kamloops. Merritt Mayor Michael Goetz said he's excited for the new data centre in his community. "If you're first in the door, you can control the narrative," Goetz said. "If you're coming up behind once everybody's jumped on the bandwagon, then you're playing catch up." He said the city was lucky the land was available: years ago, the site was upgraded to become a grow-op, according to Goetz. "It was going to be a row of greenhouses for the grow-up.… So it's a very powerful site." Bell AI Fabric is also planning to expand its network nationally and is considering locations in Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, Bibic said. Data sovereignty The project has been in the works for more than a year, according to Bibic, and wasn't in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and annexation threats. But Bibic said recent events have shown the importance of "data sovereignty," which he described as a three-pronged concept: where data resides, who owns the infrastructure and who controls the technology being used. "If there are major geopolitical events that put any of that at risk, you know that we are secure in terms of the access of technology because everything's owned, controlled, managed by Canadians, for Canadians." Bell AI Fabric plans to serve research institutions, universities, start-ups and large enterprises. Its first partner, American AI company Groq (not to be confused with Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok), will make a home at the first data centre in Kamloops, where it will work with language processing unit chips. While Bell cut its shareholder dividends for the first time in 17 years earlier this month, Bibic said the reset would give Bell the flexibility to invest in AI technology solutions.
Globe and Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Bell to open six data centres equipped to power AI models and apps in B.C.
Bell Canada said it will open six data centres in British Columbia equipped to power artificial intelligence models and applications, just a few years after it sold off a group of data facilities. The first of the data centres will come online in June in Kamloops, with the second opening in Merritt by the end of the year. Two more will open in the next two years, with one scheduled for 2026 at Thompson Rivers University. Two others are in the advanced planning stages, according to the company. Altogether, Bell said its data centres will have the capacity for up to 500 megawatts of electricity, a substantial load that has been secured. Upon completion, the facilities will make up the largest AI computing cluster in the country, according to the company. 'There's been a lot of talk about data centres being built, and visions and ambitions,' said Mirko Bibic, chief executive officer of parent company BCE Inc. BCE-T, in an interview. 'We've got the land, we've got the buildings, we've got the chips in there, we've got the power.' The computer processing needs of generative AI, which include applications such as ChatGPT, have created a surge in demand for data centres around the globe. The federal government last year announced a $2-billion spending package over five years to help Canadian companies and researchers access AI computing power, and to back the construction of new data centres. This infrastructure is necessary for Canadian companies, researchers and governments to build and run AI models, which can lead to productivity gains, economic benefits and scientific breakthroughs. Prime Minister Mark Carney highlighted the potential of AI in his recent mandate letter, and this month appointed Evan Solomon as the country's first Minister of AI and Digital Innovation. Having Canadian-owned and operated data centres for AI is also seen as a way to strengthen sovereignty and protect sensitive information. Many Canadian companies, governments and public institutions rely on storage, cloud computing and AI services from U.S. tech companies. As BCE spends on data centres, however, the company is dealing with more than $30-billion in long-term debt. Its stock price has fallen some 35 per cent in the past year and the company cut its dividend by more than half this month. Mr. Bibic said the company will spend a dollar amount in the low nine figures for its data centre rollout at first, but that number does not include all six facilities. He declined to provide further detail. The first few are on the small end in terms of power consumption – two are 7 MW and two more are 26 MW. The other two projects have the total capacity for more than 400 MW, which is substantial for Canada. Large data centre expansions can run into the billions of dollars, based on figures provided by other companies. 'It's a big investment in the scheme of AI in Canada, but we do invest over $3-billion a year,' Mr. Bibic said, referring to the telecom's capital expenditures. The company is not receiving federal funding through the AI infrastructure program, but Mr. Bibic said he is open to applying. 'It'd be wise for us to do,' he said. Telecoms have operated data centres before, in hopes of expanding into cloud computing and other services. But with lots of supply available, companies slashed their prices and struggled to compete. In 2020, BCE announced the sale of 25 of its data-centre facilities to U.S. company Equinix Inc. for just over $1-billion. 'There was no particular differentiation for Bell in that circumstance,' Mr. Bibic said. AI provides a different opportunity, he continued. Not only is there demand, but sovereignty, data protection and cybersecurity are increasingly important issues in Canada. 'You've got AI as a clear winner in terms of massive growth potential now and for the long-term, and we're extremely well-positioned to lean in,' he said, adding the company has a large existing enterprise business and that the revenue potential with AI is significant. BCE is not the only telecom looking to AI for growth. Telus Corp. said in March that it is equipping a facility it owns in Quebec to handle AI, and plans to later do the same in B.C. Alberta's government is trying to attract companies to build AI data centres, emphasizing the province's abundant natural gas reserves for electricity generation. But one of the advantages of B.C. is access to clean hydropower, along with fibre-optic connectivity. 'I won't dismiss the ambition, but what differentiates this is the fact that these are real [facilities], at-scale, backed by Bell and with low-cost sustainable energy,' Mr. Bibic said. Longer term, the company has the potential to expand its AI footprint in Manitoba and Quebec, which also rely on hydropower. The need for data centres depends on the pace of AI adoption, which some analysts say is uncertain. 'A lack of clarity about future demand makes precise investment calculations difficult,' McKinsey & Co. said in a recent report. 'Overinvesting in data centre infrastructure risks stranding assets, while underinvesting means falling behind.' Mr. Bibic said the company is 'methodical' about its expansion. The facility opening in June will be occupied by Groq Inc., a U.S. company that competes with chip maker Nvidia Corp. and offers hardware and software for running AI. Bell also partnered with Thompson Rivers University for the data centre opening next year, allowing students and faculty to train and run AI models. 'We are securing demand and building at the same time,' Mr. Bibic said. 'It's not, 'Build it and they will come.''
