I’m writing a new book!

It will tell the story of what’s really behind the hyperscale data center boom

In 2022, my first book Road to Nowhere was published. It dug into the big ideas the tech industry had to solve transportation, and how poorly they actually delivered on the promises that accompanied their plans. But it also explored the deeper reasons so many people are stuck in traffic or can’t access adequate transportation, and why technology alone is so poorly equipped to solve those problems.

The response to the book was great. I’ve heard from so many readers who felt it gave them insights they’ve never before considered about the transport system, and even got very positive feedback from urban planners and transport experts. In fact, as I write this, I’m about to promote the recent Portuguese translation with a series of events in Brazil!

Since its publication, I’ve been debating what a follow up might look like. I felt Road to Nowhere wrapped up my thinking on tech and transportation, but there were so many other issues I wanted to explore. After throwing around a few different ideas, I finally settled one last year — and after some back and forth with my agent, I put together a proposal and it was acquired by Riverhead, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

So, what is the new book? Well, if you’ve been following my podcast or newsletter, you’ve probably noticed I’ve been doing some work on the wider impacts of data centers.

I’ll be digging into the recent expansion in the number of hyperscale data centers around the world, driven in part by the generative AI boom. That will entail digging into the supply chain and understanding the growing community opposition to their buildout around the world. But beyond that, it will explore how data centers have changed, and both the commercial and ideological forces driving the quest for ever more computation. Plus, I’ll be asking whether we really need all the compute major tech companies are shouldering us with.

The book won’t be out for some time, but I’ll let you know when preorders begin next year. Until then, I’m open to insights and stories related to the data center boom that might help to inform the work I’ll be doing to bring the book to fruition in the coming months. If you have anything you want to share, pop me a message at datacenterbook [at] proton [dot] me and I’ll get back to you if I want to know more.

I’ll keep you in the loop as I have more to share!