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Data centers: The race to power AI

13 min • 5 juni 2025

Leaders worldwide are moving fast to deploy AI at scale. But scaling AI means more data centers—and data centers consume vast quantities of energy. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey’s Jesse Noffsinger and Pankaj Sachdeva speak with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about what needs to happen to build new, bigger data centers quickly, as well as to sate their growing hunger for power.

Articles mentioned:

A generational shift: The future of foreign aid

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Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw

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