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The Data Center is the New Unit of Compute: Crusoe CEO Chase Lochmiller
@ Sequoia Capital
05/07/25
Takeaways
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Chase Lochmiller
05/07/25
@ Sequoia Capital
The AI data center of the future differs significantly from traditional data centers, as it requires a more industrial approach to infrastructure, energy, and scale.
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Chase Lochmiller
05/07/25
@ Sequoia Capital
Crusoe is currently constructing about 2 gigawatts of AI infrastructure and has 20 gigawatts in the pipeline, transforming both the energy and data center landscapes to support AI.
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Chase Lochmiller
05/07/25
@ Sequoia Capital
Big tech companies are not inherently designed to move quickly due to their complex approval processes, which gives Crusoe a competitive advantage in accelerating time to market for AI infrastructure.
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Chase Lochmiller
05/07/25
@ Sequoia Capital
Crusoe's strategy involves building data centers in areas with abundant, low-cost, clean energy, such as Abilene, Texas, where there is a surplus of renewable energy.
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Chase Lochmiller
05/07/25
@ Sequoia Capital
The demand for domestic AI strategies is increasing due to geopolitical shifts and the need for data locality, as some data must remain within national borders.
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Chase Lochmiller
05/07/25
@ Sequoia Capital
Energy constraints are a significant challenge for AI development, as AI is creating a significant increase in demand for energy, leading to a need for innovative solutions to power data centers. The U.S. energy landscape is evolving to meet these growing demands of AI infrastructure.
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Chase Lochmiller
05/07/25
@ Sequoia Capital
We view AI as a massive opportunity to accelerate the development of next-generation energy technologies, including nuclear power.
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Chase Lochmiller
05/07/25
@ Sequoia Capital
For the first time in human history, we can manufacture intelligence using silicon, which is a significant shift from previous organic methods.
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Chase Lochmiller
05/07/25
@ Sequoia Capital
In Abilene, Texas, we employ a substantial part of the local population in skilled trades necessary for building AI data centers, which requires importing labor due to the specialized skills needed.
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Chase Lochmiller
05/07/25
@ Sequoia Capital
Our data centers utilize a cooling architecture that involves massive pipes moving water to cool chips directly, which is essential for managing the increased power density of modern data centers.
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Chase Lochmiller
05/07/25
@ Sequoia Capital
The data center is becoming the new unit of compute, and we need to rethink data center design to support this shift in computing architecture.
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Chase Lochmiller
05/07/25
@ Sequoia Capital
The future data center will be interconnected, allowing for a coherent cluster of high-performance computing resources, which will be the largest of its kind once completed.
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Chase Lochmiller
05/07/25
@ Sequoia Capital
The value of thinking like a mountaineer emphasizes resilience and planning for unexpected challenges, which has been crucial for our company's success during chaotic periods.