NVIDIA breaks ground on Fort Worth "AI factory" amid city's data center concerns

FORT WORTH, Texas - Fort Worth will soon be the center of NVIDIA's U.S. production of AI supercomputers.

What we know:

NVIDIA broke ground on what it calls an "AI factory" in Fort Worth on Tuesday afternoon.

The factory will be responsible for the construction of AI supercomputers that feature the company's most advanced AI systems. Such supercomputers were previously constructed overseas.

The supercomputers weigh two tons and cost $4 million to make. The factory will be responsible for building thousands of such computers.

Once built, the supercomputers will be transported to another "AI factory" to take and convert energy into "tokens", which are turned into artificial intelligence such as words, numbers, stories, or even problem-solving.

The factory's construction represents a $700 million investment in Fort Worth and has created 800 new jobs.

What they're saying:

"The old generation of data centers used a lot of water and cooling tech. Now? It's 100% liquid cooled. There's re-circulation of liquid cooling. Therefore, water usage is extremely low, the energy efficiency is high, and so I would encourage people if you worry about data centers, replace the old ones," NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said at today's groundbreaking.

"I know that all these data centers are popping up so fast and changing the shape of these communities we all the data center builders need to be more sensitive to the local community. Give them plenty of time to plan with you and, along the way, improve the local community."

Data centers in Fort Worth

Dig deeper:

The factory's opening comes as Fort Worth leaders grapple with the rapid expansion and construction of data centers in Texas and across the United States.

Earlier in July, five Fort Worth City Council members signed a letter calling for a temporary moratorium on data center construction.

At a public forum, residents expressed their concerns with the future of data centers in Fort Worth.

There are currently four active data centers in Fort Worth, with one under construction and four others in planning stages.

Fort Worth City Manager Jay Chapa tells FOX 4's Alex Boyer that NVIDIA's new factory differs from data centers, but there needs to be a balance.

"I think you're specifically talking about data centers, which is a different type of use when it comes to the land use involved, and really they're not necessarily a moratorium on data centers themselves. The moratorium is so we have more time to put in appropriate regulations."'

"Even though we're growing, the way appraisals are working in order for cities to provide services to the community, especially homeowners, industries like data centers will be key to providing the tax base of the future."

What's next:

On Aug. 11, Fort Worth City Council will vote on whether to adopt the data center moratorium, which would give the city a longer window to draft guidelines that future data centers in the city would have to abide by.

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