FT series: China's power oversupply drives AI data center boom in Ulanqab
EleanorOlcott · x · 2026-10-09
- FT launched a three-part series on China's AI infrastructure build-out, with part one focused on Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia. Key thesis: China's power oversupply is a motivating factor for building more AI data centers.
- Reporter Eleanor Olcott visited the city in person. kevinsxu adds context: Ulanqab has been a data center hub for over a decade — four years ago, during the self-driving craze, it hosted both data centers and cheap human labelers annotating pedestrians for algorithms, under the slogan "Cloud Valley on the Grassland."
- He jokes the city should update its slogan to "Birthplace of Chinese AGI on the Grassland."
Related event: FT visits Ulanqab: 89 data centers rise as power glut fuels China's AI race(7 posts)→
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