Kai Risdahl

Between us, Megan and I have been to a total of three data centers now.

Talk to me for a second, though, about the people who get left behind.

Because, you know, you're in Silicon Valley, incredible concentration of wealth.

Same with L.A.

and New York and, you know, Washington, D.C.

But there are huge chunks of this country where people don't even have broadband Internet yet.

Forget AI, for crying out loud.

That's why I came up here, to see what the AI economy looks like on the ground and what it's going to mean for you.

Even if you don't use Claude or ChatGPT, AI is still part of your life.

There could be a data center you never knew was there, or you could be invested in companies benefiting from the AI boom through your retirement account without even knowing it.

AI and its trade-offs are here to stay, but how those trade-offs balance out is the question we don't have an answer to quite yet.

This final note on the way out today, if you want to see some of the places we've been, like that big empty data center, you can do that over on our Instagram.

It's Marketplace APM.

Also, as we mentioned, Megan's been doing a whole lot of reporting on AI infrastructure over at Marketplace Tech.

Like going on a vintage manhole cover hunt for a look at technology booms of the past.

Also visiting a place that has been called the Winchester Mystery House of the Internet.

And trying to figure out if electrical vehicle trash can become AI data center treasure.

You can hear those stories on Marketplace Tech wherever you get your podcasts.

Just follow us there.

Jordan Maggi, Zanil Maharaj, Janet Nguyen, Olga Oxman, and Virginia K. Smith are the digital team around here.