Background information
AI boom: could SSDs and HDDs become the new graphics cards?
by Kevin Hofer
AI boom: Open AI and Nvidia’s 100-billion dollar plan requires the energy output of ten nuclear reactors
23.9.2025
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
The announcement by Open AI and Nvidia sounds insane: 100 billion US dollars for AI infrastructure that’ll consume an electricity output equivalent to ten nuclear power plants. No question, electricity is becoming the tech industry’s most valuable resource.
Crazy scale
The numbers are staggering: 10 gigawatts correspond to between 4 and 5 million GPUs – equal to Nvidia’s total GPU shipments for this year. And while we’re still all getting used to gaming PCs with 1000-watt power supplies, OpenAI is planning infrastructure totalling 10,000,000,000 watts. It would put all existing data centres in its shadow: those draw between 50 and 100 megawatts, i.e. a hundred times less.
Financing is particularly perfidious: Nvidia is investing 100 billion dollars in Open AI, which will then spend the money on Nvidia hardware. It’s as if the graphics card manufacturer is financing PC dealers who’ll then buy exclusively its products. This way, Nvidia is cementing its quasi-monopoly in AI accelerators.
Electricity as the new bottleneck
But even with an unlimited budget, the AI giants are coming up against physical limits: electricity is a limited commodity and power plants aren’t built in a day. The next bottleneck is looming: electricity. In a world where AI infrastructures meet the electricity needs of entire countries, energy is becoming a strategic resource.
The first gigawatt stage is scheduled to go online in 2026 – Nvidia’s Vera Rubin platform. In the AI era, the question of «How many AI accelerators do we need?» will probably be replaced by «How many nuclear power plants do we need?»
Header image: TonyV3112
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
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