Artificial intelligence has created an unprecedented hunger for computing power, and the construction of huge data centers is already meeting increasingly serious resistance from local communities. Against this background, the American startup SPAN offers an unusual solution - mini data centers located directly next to residential buildings.
The company announced a partnership with the technology giant NVIDIA to develop the so-called XFRA nodes - compact computing stations that can be installed next to single-family homes or small commercial premises. According to the company, the idea is to use the unused capacity of the electrical grid in residential neighborhoods instead of building new large-scale data centers.
XFRA devices are comparable in size to the external unit of an air conditioner. Each of them is equipped with 16 NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPUs, which are liquid-cooled and operate almost silently. This is a key element of the concept, as noise is one of the main reasons for dissatisfaction with traditional data centers.
SPAN claims that it can build a network of about 8,000 such nodes up to six times faster and at a fifth of the cost of a conventional 100-megawatt data center. The company is already working with US construction giant PulteGroup, with a pilot project with 100 households planned for 2026. The long-term goal is to build up to 80,000 nodes in the US, which together will provide over 1 gigawatt of computing capacity.
The model also provides incentives for property owners. In exchange for the space provided, households can receive a smart electrical panel, battery energy storage, the ability to integrate with solar panels, as well as lower or even fully covered electricity and internet costs.
According to NVIDIA representatives, the main problem facing the industry is no longer the chips themselves, but access to sufficient electricity. That is why the use of existing infrastructure in residential areas can significantly accelerate the implementation of new AI services.
However, the idea is not without criticism. Experts warn that the mass deployment of such systems can strain local electricity distribution networks, and the presence of expensive equipment in residential areas creates additional security risks. In addition, the project will have to go through a number of regulatory procedures before it can be implemented on a large scale.
Nevertheless, the concept shows where the industry is heading. Instead of huge complexes concentrated in one place, the future of part of the AI infrastructure may end up being distributed among thousands of homes, turning neighborhoods into a kind of network of mini data centers.
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