data centre

plural data centres · alternative datacentre · alternative data center · alternative datacenter

1. A facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems.

   In its 2013 sustainability report, Facebook stated its data centers used 986 million kilowatt-hours of electricity—around the same amount consumed by Burkina Faso in 2012.

   2015 December 16, Ingrid Burrington, “The Environmental Toll of a Netflix Binge”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 18 Feb 2016

   2 more examples

   Every age has its own distinctive building type. For the 19th century, it was the railway station, for the 20th century, it was the skyscraper. For the 21st century, it looks like it'll be the data centre. What a time to be alive.

   2026 January 17, Edwin Heathcote, “Welcome to a post-human world”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 13

   Such is his enthusiasm for AI's potential that [Dario] Amodei envisions the day when Anthropic will soon be running a “a country of geniuses in a data centre” with enormous consequences for all our lives.

   2026 April 18, John Thornhill, quoting Dario Amodei, “Lunch with the FT: Dario Amodei”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3