Powering the AI inference boom: Is it time to downsize the data centre?

Powering the AI inference boom: Is it time to downsize the data centre? Business

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12:35

Issued on: 21/05/2026 - 16:45

12:35 min Share Play (12:35 min) From the show Reading time 1 min

In the world of artificial intelligence, the focus used to be on training AI models. Now, increasingly, it's on "inference" – the actual execution of the tasks we ask these systems to perform. David Gurlé is a French tech entrepreneur whose startup Antimatter aims to service the inference boom with energy solutions, mini data centres that fit inside a container and appropriate software – for only a fraction of the cost and time.

Also in the show, we bring you a report about Cape Town, where plans for new data centres are being met with pushback amid concerns about rising electricity costs, noise, pollution and – critically for South Africa – water stress.

By: Charles PELLEGRIN Agnès LE COSSEC Advertising Related keywords

• Tech
• Artificial intelligence
• energy