How Data Centers Actually Work
Uncanny Valley | WIRED
WIRED
4.1 • 572 Ratings
🗓️ 23 October 2025
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tech giants have been investing hundreds of billions of dollars into AI data centers just this year alone. But as the deals pile up, so have the concerns around their viability and sustainability. Mike and Lauren sit down with WIRED’s Molly Taft to discuss how these energy hungry facilities actually work; the different industry interests at stake; and whether it’ll all come crumbling down.
Articles mentioned in this episode:
- The AI Industry’s Scaling Obsession Is Headed for a Cliff | WIRED
- OpenAI's Blockbuster AMD Deal Is a Bet on Near-Limitless Demand for AI | WIRED
- A Political Battle Is Brewing Over Data Centers | WIRED
- How Much Energy Does AI Use? The People Who Know Aren’t Saying | WIRED
Join WIRED’s best and brightest as they provide an insider analysis of the overlap between tech and politics, from the influence of Silicon Valley on the Trump administration to how inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots fanned the fire on social protests.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choicesTranscript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, Lauren. How you doing? |
| 0:02.5 | I'm great. It's so nice to be back in studio with you again because our schedules were not aligning for the past few weeks. |
| 0:08.8 | Nope. But, you know, the stars on the moon have aligned now and here we are once again. |
| 0:12.8 | Here we are. And I'm sure all of our listeners have just been sitting here wondering, when are Lauren and Mike getting back together? |
| 0:19.0 | When is the band getting back together? |
| 0:21.7 | And I just went to yet another AI dinner last night. |
| 0:25.7 | Everyone's talking about AI. |
| 0:27.7 | Everyone is talking about whether or not we're in an AI bubble. |
| 0:31.1 | And I think a lot of this is fueled by the news that we've been seen trickling out about all of these AI infrastructure projects. Yes, data centers. Data centers. Big warehouses stuffed with computers. Stuffed with server racks. And for sure, like, we're going to be touching on all of that on today's show. But before we get into it, we have to welcome our guest, Wired's senior writer and climate energy expert. Molly Taft is joining us today. |
| 0:56.1 | Hello, Molly. |
| 0:56.8 | Hello. |
| 0:57.2 | Hi, Molly. |
| 0:58.2 | Is this your inaugural Uncanny Valley podcast? |
| 1:01.3 | Yeah, and I'm a fan. |
| 1:03.2 | So this is a big deal for me, frankly. |
| 1:05.5 | I'm very excited to be here talking about my favorite topic and the thing people ask me the most these days about at parties. |
| 1:12.9 | And what is that? |
| 1:14.1 | Data centers. |
| 1:15.8 | Data centers. |
| 1:17.1 | I thought you were going to say they're electricity bills. |
| 1:19.4 | Yeah, I mean, they're related, aren't they? |
| 1:21.9 | People are fired up about it. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WIRED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of WIRED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.