The course of big tech construction never did run smooth. If you're not contending with straightforward money issues, then you're stumbling upon human remains and have no choice but to put the whole project on pause while you figure out the best home for those bones. That said, I'm not sure this latest spanner in the works of big tech's machinations was on my bingo card.
As we've previously covered, AI requires an enormous amount of power and major players are manoeuvring to meet that demand in a way that facilitates a carbon-free future. Meta had hoped to follow Google and Amazon's lead, aiming to strike a deal with a nuclear energy provider to power their AI ambitions. The plan was to build a new data centre right next to an existing nuclear power plant. Unfortunately the land that was earmarked for development is close to the home of a rare endangered species of bee, according to Ars Technica—that's gotta sting.
