It’s a scene straight out of a science fiction show: robot dogs. Think K9 from the sci-fi series Doctor Who, or Goddard from the cartoon Jimmy Neutron.
Now, robot dogs are standing guard for tech companies, patrolling the massive data centers across the country that power AI operations, according to Business Insider. These four-legged robots, known as quadrupeds, are in high demand from AI firms, according to robotics company Boston Dynamics, which manufactures a quadruped called Spot. These systems are able to navigate complex landscapes on their own, alert authorities about security threats, and can provide around-the-clock video surveillance.
“We’ve seen a huge, huge uptick in interest from data centers in the last year,” Merry Frayne, senior director of product management at Boston Dynamics, told Business Insider, “which is probably not surprising given the investment in that space.”
Companies are pouring nearly $700 billion into the AI infrastructure buildout, a sum that rivals the GDP of developed countries like Sweden. And some data centers are the size of multiple football fields. One data center—Meta’s Hyperion—will sprawl out to about four times the size of Manhattan’s Central Park. Aside from requiring loads of energy and millions of gallons of water, the vast size of the data centers means the cost of security to protect their around-the-clock operations is inspiring some firms to look to alternative security resources.
