Inside Meta’s push to put robots to work in data centers
Ars Technica · LC · trust 54/100
Dey took ‘er jerbs Inside Meta’s push to put robots to work in data centers The company is testing robots on tasks that can performed by technicians.
47 Credit: Getty Images Credit: Getty Images Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Minimize to nav Meta is testing robots that can plug in cables, reset servers, and handle other tasks inside its data centers , according to several current and former workers familiar with the projects. The ongoing effort, which has not been previously reported, may eventually allow Meta to operate its rapidly expanding data center footprint with fewer humans, keeping labor costs in check as its spending on AI infrastructure soars .
Meta is using robots and related hardware from several different vendors, including Watney Robotics, Kinova, and ABB, according to the same workers, who asked to remain anonymous because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media. Kinova and ABB declined to comment. Watney didn’t respond to requests for comment.
In one experiment, Meta is evaluating whether a Kinova Gen3 robotic arm could be used for power cycling or cutting off electricity to servers. The company is also testing a different robot to swap networking cables. One Meta data center worker estimates that if it’s successful, the bot could replace up to 80 percent of some people’s workloads. “We thought those of us performing the physical tasks were safe for a while, but not anymore,” says the worker. “It’s coming for us all, unfortunately.”
At some facilities, Meta quietly adopted another, relatively simple robot. It looks like a finger—or perhaps a pointy stick—that can press the power button on a Mac Mini or other device to restart it when remotely prompted by a human.
Meta declined to comment on the testing described in this story. Company spokesperson Francis Brennan said in a statement that Meta is investing heavily in training and hiring workers to build and operate its data centers. “America is in the middle of its biggest infrastructure boom since World War II, and there’s a major shortage of skilled workers to fill the roles; we need more workers, not fewer,” he said.
But at a conference last year , Eric Xu, senior manager for robotics at Meta, said the company’s “long-term goals” are to put robots in data centers, arguing they could speed up incident response, monitor the environment, and handle preventative maintenance. “We believe more collaboration and research will be needed, but we have to start, otherwise we don’t have a chance to do this,” he said.
Until recently, robots largely weren’t well suited for the delicate work happening in data centers. They were expensive, and in earlier trials in the industry they sometimes crushed servers while attempting simple tasks, a person briefed on the experimentation says. But the hardware has gotten cheaper, and the AI models powering robots are now far more capable than they were a few years ago. Several startups are currently working to build commercial robots capable of assembling servers, swapping parts, and replacing wires.
Robots could offer more consistent output at a lower cost than human labor, especially in less populous regions where data centers are plentiful but qualified workers are scarce. Proponents also rally behind a pro-worker message: Like AI agents promise to do for knowledge workers, they argue robots could take on data center technicians’ most repetitive and dangerous tasks while freeing them to focus on more complex challenges. Longer term, getting workers out of the picture could make it more feasible to run data centers underwater, in space, or in other environments potentially inhospitable to living, breathing species.
“More and more of our customers are telling us ‘we want to run our data centers using humanoid [robots]’ because you can run them at higher temperatures, in the dark, and all these things,” says Paul Golding, who oversees so-called physical intelligence at the chipmaker Analog Devices.
The growing use of robots has received little attention from the activists driving a powerful nationwide movement against data centers. Tech companies often tout jobs for humans as an upside to the developments that can be used to justify tax breaks for them. In Altoona, Iowa, Meta operates what is now its largest data center campus , which employs hundreds of workers. The company opened the facility in 2014 and has several years left of a property tax break that allows it to save tens of millions of dollars annually , which the city has viewed as a worthwhile trade-off for having its cachet upped by having Meta jobs.
In Altoona, Meta worker group chats have taken on a demoralized tone, “saying we’re all going to be gone in a few years anyway because of the robots,” a person familiar with the discussions says. Even if adoption of robots proves slower than anticipated, some worry the quality of jobs available is trending downward. Two of the workers say that Meta is developing AI software and other technologies that they believe will allow it to hire lower-skilled—and thus, lower-paid—workers and centralize some roles in areas such as Denver, Colorado, that are more financially advantageous to the company.
“They no longer want people who can think independently, come up with creative solutions, or perform complex troubleshooting,” one Meta data center worker says. “They want ‘smart hands,’ people who are just capable enough to follow AI instructions and not mess anything up.”
Meta contends its need for skilled workers remains robust. This year, the company launched a long-term program to train thousands of people annually from any background in electrical, mechanical, and plumbing work at no cost to them. Meta is even guaranteeing employment in states such as Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, and Texas for those who complete the training. It also partnered with building trade unions to fund…
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