Amazon Announces Multibillion-Dollar Data Center in Missouri

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Use of compute capacity

  • Many expect most new capacity to serve ads, engagement-maximizing content, and “AI slop” (short-form videos, AI girlfriends, political manipulation), not science or public good.
  • Others note Amazon’s business is broader cloud services; its customer base is likely more diverse than ad tech alone.
  • There’s nostalgia for early internet optimism and skepticism that this AI wave will be used differently from prior tech waves.

Jobs, automation, and democracy

  • Some argue large AI data centers are meant to eliminate jobs, enrich a small elite, and erode democracy.
  • Counterpoints call such views hyperbolic or “doomer,” emphasizing that tech progress has always displaced and created jobs.
  • There is discussion of historical Luddites: they opposed how owners used tech to undercut labor, not tech itself—seen as analogous to current AI deployment.
  • Concerns are raised that AI-driven inequality and concentration of wealth undermine democratic institutions.

Environmental and resource concerns

  • Commenters worry about massive electricity use, associated heat, large natural-gas plants, and indirect climate impacts.
  • Some compare a hypothetical 6–10 GW data center to alternative uses like large-scale desalination that could secure freshwater for tens of millions.
  • Water use is debated:
    • One side says evaporated cooling water re-enters the hydrological cycle and that many areas east of the Rockies aren’t water-stressed.
    • Others point to actual droughts in those regions and emphasize noise, heat, and local water table risks.
    • Closed-loop cooling is cited as increasingly common, but claimed adoption figures (e.g., 60–80%) are challenged as unsubstantiated in the sources offered.

Local economic impact and data center work

  • Data centers provide mostly physical roles: electricians, plumbers, HVAC, security, technicians, logistics; relatively few on-site software engineers.
  • Technician work is described as largely procedural (racking, cabling, swapping hardware, destroying drives), often “dumbed down” to minimize cost and risk.
  • Wages for skilled trades can be decent; security/tech roles are said not to pay especially well.
  • Locally, the site is described as rural and unlikely to employ many people from St. Louis proper.

Location, power, and infrastructure

  • Proximity to military bases is floated as a potential security benefit but disputed (the nearby base is mainly for basic training).
  • Others think siting is more about access to existing nuclear and solar generation.
  • The cited 138 MW figure refers to Amazon’s investment in a carbon-free energy project, not necessarily the data center’s consumption; its actual load is unclear.

AI economics, AWS growth, and Jevons paradox

  • AWS’s past growth is described as “mind boggling”; even efficiency gains in hardware/software have not slowed total capacity expansion.
  • AI is seen as having an “infinite” appetite for compute, consistent with Jevons paradox: efficiency gains lower unit costs and increase total use.
  • Some argue current AI usage is heavily subsidized “dumping”: cheap tokens to lock in enterprise workflows and reduce headcount, with pricing power to come later.

Ads, paywalls, and internet funding

  • One view defends ads as essential to a free internet; without them, more content moves behind paywalls, which can be regressive.
  • Critics say ad-based models create perverse incentives for maximizing screen time, degrading user experience and arguably costing individuals more via induced consumption.
  • Alternatives like publicly funded services, libraries, or traffic-based taxation schemes are discussed but seen as complex or unclear to implement online.

Regulation, risk, and sentiment

  • Some call for AI access to be regulated and taxed like dangerous chemicals or weapons, to keep cutting-edge models under stricter control.
  • Others question how such jurisdiction would work and worry about criminalizing use of foreign or “unapproved” models.
  • There is visible polarization: enthusiasm for tech and economic growth coexists with deep distrust of corporate motives and fears of societal harm.