Rural Ohio Meets Data Storage

AI data storage has become a community battleground throughout much of the United States this summer, including some small Ohio communities that have had difficulty getting clear information about companies that are showing up to do business.

In eastern Ohio's rural Harrison County, a company solicited AEP for an extension of power lines to fuel its on-demand AI cloud service. Local residents questioned the end user of the power delivery, and at an Aug. 11 local meeting of residents it was reported that power was headed to AmpZ, the electrical collaborator with DarkByte LLC, which provides data storage. AmpZ is based in Denver, Colorado and the company is also working on a data storage site in east Texas.

In a 2023 press release, DarkByte teamed up with Hewlett Packard and others for an endeavor, following the security standards set forth by the U.S. Department of Defense, according to a news release posted at the time. The business appeared to be soliciting contracts related to government services, specifically those in the fields of energy, healthcare, manufacturing and financial services. 

Further south in Pike County, OpenAI is joining Nvidia and other big tech names to build a half-trillion dollar data storage facility. OpenAI continues to make promises to the community now totaling the following: 35,000 construction jobs over the next six years, 2,5000 long-term jobs, and $40 million for a community grant foundation.

Interestingly, the company also plans to contribute $84 million to students in tech and college programs who want to sign up for its OpenAI’s Codex system that allows users to write code and develop software including apps and other items.