China’s AI Data Center Boom in Inner Mongolia

Travel just two hours west of Beijing by train, and you’ll find yourself surrounded by the rolling grasslands and ancient cinder cones of Inner Mongolia. Over the last few years, Inner Mongolia has become the hottest place in China to build AI data centers. In Ulanqab, nearly 100 data centers have been opened or begun construction since 2016, with Chinese companies committing to projects totaling 12.5 gigawatts of capacity. The city’s high elevation and cold winters make it an energy-efficient location for data centers, while its proximity to Beijing and low electricity costs attract companies like DeepSeek, ByteDance, and Alibaba…