North Dakota – It appears North Dakota is fast becoming one of the new frontiers for artificial intelligence, as developers are seeing opportunities to build more AI data centers in the coming years.
A new report from Applied Digital, which already has two data center facilities in Jamestown and Ellendale, argues that the state is positioned to be the “epicenter for AI infrastructure.”
The company’s CEO wrote in part that North Dakota “can outperform conventional markets on both cost and sustainability.”
“It’s a massive problem right now with how fast AI is growing [because] there’s not enough storing and computing power for these data centers,” says Jacob Hanson with the 8020 Group, a North Dakota-based digital solutions company.
Appearing on The Flag on Tuesday, Hanson says he believes North Dakota is “perfect” for data centers based on the cool climate which creates “ideal conditions.”
‘There are already plenty of initiatives that are starting, which will take some time…but over the years, data centers are going to be popping up left and right [in North Dakota] similar to the Bakken oil boom,” said Hanson.
But past critics, like the chair of Public Service Commission, are concerned about the cost to power the data centers which can lead to rising utility rates for regular consumers.
Despite the need to expand power generation and capacity for future centers, Hanson believes there’s a great opportunity for North Dakota.
“Historically, we’ve been behind the trend with technology, but with AI, we have a chance to be at the forefront.”
