A generative AI company is injecting six billion dollars into Lancaster County.
CoreWeave is “a comprehensive platform and strategic partner designed to tackle today—and tomorrow’s—challenges of deploying AI at scale,” according to their website. CoreWeave began in 2016 as a cryptomining startup based in New York City and has since grown into a cloud-computing AI powerhouse, worth $58 billion according to the NASDAQ.
“Equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure tailored for advanced AI workloads, the Lancaster data center will help position Pennsylvania, and the broader Mid-Atlantic region, as a strategic hub for the global AI economy,” CoreWeave stated in a press release in July.
The initial announcement was made at the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, an event hosted by Senator Dave McCormick on July 15, held at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
“The demand for high-performance AI computers is relentless, and CoreWeave is scaling a cloud purpose-built for AI to meet it and strengthen US leadership,” said CoreWeave co-founder and CEO Michael Intrator. “This data center will accelerate innovation and drive economic growth across the region. We look forward to working with leaders like Senator McCormick and Governor Shapiro to ensure this investment delivers meaningful, lasting impact.”
The data centers will be housed at 216 Greenfield Road and 1375 Harrisburg Pike, formerly operated by printing companies LSC Communications and RR Donnelley.
According to LNP, both sites will be co-developed by Chirisa Technology Parks and Machine Investment Group, the latter of which paid $130 million for the sites in February.
The announcement of a Lancaster AI hub hasn’t been met without resistance, however, as many residents surrounding the sites are concerned about noise, air, and water pollution.
Frank Arcoleo, a member-leader of Lancaster Stands Up, wrote an op-ed in Courier titled “They Cut the Deal, We Pay the Price.”
“An AI data center is not a warehouse. Beginning phases for only one site will consume enough electricity to power 85,000 homes,” wrote Arcoleo in September. “These centers also use large amounts of water and run deafening cooling fans 24/7. The heat they push out doesn’t disappear; it heats up the surrounding area, including downwind neighborhoods.”
Including concerns about environmental impact, the proposed datacenters are also a topic of civic transparency within the local government.
“Like most voters, I expected a transparent public process with city council, the planning commission, and community input,” Arcoleo wrote. “Instead, in the dead of night, the city administration classified these facilities as ‘warehouses,’ sidestepping a public hearing. We didn’t even get to question how this would affect our utility bills. We shouldn’t have to subsidize our own demise.”
