Oracle boosts data center job forecast after local opposition

Oracle Corp. predicted that a massive data center it’s developing for OpenAI in New Mexico will create more jobs than previously announced, another example of tech companies trying promote positive impacts of server farms.

The site will create as many as 1,500 permanent jobs at the data center or in the county after construction is complete, double the previous forecast, Oracle said Friday in a statement. It “will deliver high-quality jobs, sustainable infrastructure, and long-term economic benefits to Doña Ana County,” Executive Vice President Pradeep Vincent wrote on LinkedIn.

Data centers have quickly gone from uncontroversial infrastructure to objects of public concern. Local residents and their representatives are increasingly worried that the power-hungry plants will raise electricity bills, suck up huge quantities of water and provide few jobs once they’re up and running.

In response, tech companies including Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. have launched a charm offensive that includes commercials, studies that purport to show their facilities aren’t raising costs for consumers and various other pledges to do no harm to local communities.

Oracle’s “Project Jupiter” site, just a few miles north of the international border with Mexico, is part of the company’s massive Stargate AI infrastructure contract with OpenAI. It has prompted local protests largely focused on potential environmental impact. The project received a package of tax incentives and support from government-backed bonds.

The company said Friday that the data center’s water use will be comparable to an office building, since the liquid that cools servers will be continuously re-used. It will be powered entirely with on-site gas generators separate from the public energy grid, “ensuring no impact to rate payers.” In addition, the company will pay hundreds of millions to the county, which will help improve schools and water infrastructure, Oracle said. Bloomberg