Inside Meta’s Push to Put Robots to Work in Data Centers
Inside Meta’s Push to Put Robots to Work in Data Centers
深入了解 Meta：推动机器人进驻数据中心
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.
据几位熟悉该项目的现任和前任员工透露，Meta 正在测试能够插拔线缆、重置服务器以及处理数据中心内其他任务的机器人。这项此前未被报道的持续性工作，最终可能使 Meta 在运营其迅速扩张的数据中心时减少对人工的依赖，从而在 AI 基础设施支出激增的情况下控制劳动力成本。
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.
据上述员工称，Meta 正在使用来自 Watney Robotics、Kinova 和 ABB 等多家供应商的机器人及相关硬件。由于未获授权向媒体发言，这些员工要求匿名。Kinova 和 ABB 拒绝置评，Watney 也未回应置评请求。
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.”
在一项实验中，Meta 正在评估 Kinova Gen3 机械臂是否可用于服务器的电源循环或断电操作。该公司还在测试另一种用于更换网络线缆的机器人。一位 Meta 数据中心员工估计，如果实验成功，该机器人可以取代部分员工高达 80% 的工作量。“我们原以为从事体力劳动的我们还能安稳一阵子，但现在看来不是了，”该员工说，“不幸的是，它终究会取代我们所有人。”
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.
在一些设施中，Meta 悄悄采用了另一种相对简单的机器人。它看起来像一根手指，或者一根尖头棍，当人类远程发出指令时，它可以按下 Mac Mini 或其他设备的电源按钮进行重启。
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.
Meta 拒绝就本文描述的测试发表评论。公司发言人 Francis Brennan 在一份声明中表示，Meta 正在大力投资培训和招聘员工，以建设和运营其数据中心。“美国正处于二战以来最大的基础设施繁荣期，填补这些职位的熟练工人严重短缺；我们需要更多的工人，而不是更少，”他说。
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.
但在去年的一次会议上，Meta 机器人技术高级经理 Eric Xu 表示，公司的“长期目标”是将机器人引入数据中心，并指出它们可以加快事故响应速度、监控环境并处理预防性维护。“我们相信需要更多的合作与研究，但我们必须开始，否则我们就没有机会实现这一目标，”他说。
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.
直到最近，机器人大多还不适合处理数据中心内精细的工作。一位了解实验情况的人士称，机器人价格昂贵，且在行业早期的试验中，它们有时在尝试简单任务时会压坏服务器。但现在硬件变得更便宜了，驱动机器人的 AI 模型也比几年前强大得多。目前，几家初创公司正致力于制造能够组装服务器、更换零件和更换线缆的商用机器人。
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.
与人工相比，机器人能以更低的成本提供更稳定的产出，特别是在人口较少、数据中心众多但合格工人稀缺的地区。支持者也提出了一个对工人有利的观点：正如 AI 代理有望为知识工作者所做的那样，他们认为机器人可以承担数据中心技术人员最重复、最危险的任务，从而让他们腾出精力专注于更复杂的挑战。从长远来看，将工人从现场撤出，可能使在水下、太空或其他对生物而言可能不适宜的环境中运行数据中心变得更加可行。
“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.
芯片制造商 Analog Devices 负责所谓“物理智能”业务的 Paul Golding 表示：“越来越多的客户告诉我们，‘我们想用人形机器人来运行数据中心’，因为你可以在更高的温度下、在黑暗中以及各种极端条件下运行它们。”
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.
机器人使用量的增加几乎没有引起那些在全国范围内发起反数据中心运动的活动人士的注意。科技公司经常将为人类提供就业机会作为其发展的一大优势，以此为减税辩护。在爱荷华州阿尔图纳市，Meta 运营着其目前最大的数据中心园区，雇佣了数百名员工。该公司于 2014 年开设了该设施，目前仍享有几年的房产税减免，每年可节省数千万美元。该市认为，通过引入 Meta 的工作岗位来提升城市声望，这种交换是值得的。
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.
在阿尔图纳，Meta 员工的群聊中弥漫着一种沮丧的情绪。一位熟悉讨论情况的人士说：“大家都在说，反正几年后我们都会因为机器人而失业。”即使机器人普及的速度比预期的要慢，一些人也担心现有工作的质量正在下降。其中两名员工表示，Meta 正在开发 AI 软件和其他技术，他们认为这将使公司能够雇佣技能水平更低（因此薪水也更低）的员工，并将部分职能集中在科罗拉多州丹佛市等对公司财务更有利的地区。
“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.”
“他们不再需要能够独立思考、提出创造性解决方案或进行复杂故障排除的人，”一位 Meta 数据中心员工说，“他们想要的是‘智能手’，即那些能力刚好足够遵循 AI 指令且不会搞砸任何事情的人。”
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 apprenticeship programs.
Meta 则坚称其对熟练工人的需求依然强劲。今年，该公司启动了一项长期计划，每年免费培训数千名来自任何背景的人员从事电气、机械和管道工作。Meta 甚至为在路易斯安那州、俄亥俄州、印第安纳州和德克萨斯州完成培训的人员提供就业保障。它还与建筑工会合作，资助学徒计划。