Hyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech's Data Empires

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 FINANCIAL TIMES & STANDARD CHARTERED BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD

"A tremendous contribution to a debate that is of existential importance to us all." -Naomi Klein, bestselling author of Doppelganger

"Hyperscale is a book Big Tech does not want you to read." -Malcolm Harris, bestselling author of Palo Alto

An eye-opening account of how the data center boom is pushing our planet past its breaking point

Underlying our seamless access to AI, cryptocurrency, and unlimited cloud storage is a hulking, costly physical infrastructure. Massive data centers full of energy-hungry chips and processors power everything we do online. Scrambling to meet dubious market demand, the tech giants have leveraged our planet in pursuit of a market monopoly.

In Hyperscale, journalist Paris Marx uncovers the excesses of hyperscale data processing. He exposes the deceptive, exploitative ways tech companies are siphoning energy and resources from vulnerable communities in their pursuit of digital power, abandoning the pretense of social responsibility.

Amid energy shortages and tech-induced battles over drinking water, Marx makes a powerful case for technology that promotes the social good over the bottom lines of tech billionaires. He joins the incredible efforts of people and movements pushing back against the profit-driven interests of Big Tech, illuminating a path toward the sustainable future we all deserve.

The AI boom and its infrastructural demands have accelerated our many modern catastrophes. With razor-sharp reporting and incisive analysis, Marx shows us that the greatest threat is not the specter of AI overlords but a global environmental disaster already in the making.