Nammo, a Norwegian arms manufacturer, blames the TikTok data center for hogging all the electricity in the region. The limited electricity supply is hindering the company from meeting the growing global demand for ammunition.
Experts are voicing concerns over the enormous demands of big tech companies and how energy usage by their data centers is compromising operations in other industries.
“We are concerned because we see our future growth is challenged by the storage of cat videos,” Morten Brandtzæg, the CEO of Nammo, said.
Cat videos may be a threat to getting a sufficient amount of weapons in military operations. Brandtzæg explained that “the demand for artillery rounds was 15 times higher than normal — a trend driven by the war in Ukraine, which has featured heavy artillery use.”
“Ukraine, for instance, would like to increase its daily usage of rounds from 6,000 to 65,000,” he said.
In Norway, it doesn’t matter whether the electricity is going towards cat videos or life-death situations. The weapons company gets no priority over any other electricity users. Based on Elvia’s policy, the energy provider in the Raufoss region of Norway, power is provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
Elvia made it clear that it has no spare capacity for Nammo to increase its production since they already have a deal with TikTok. A spokesperson said if Nammo does order more capacity, it will “take time” to reach them because the network needs to be “strengthened.”
Brandtzæg is reading between the lines to determine whether it was a coincidence that Chinese-owned TikTok was interfering with the growth of an arms company. “I will not rule out that it’s not by pure coincidence that this activity is close to a defence company,” he said. “I can’t rule it out.”
“Critical industry must have access to energy,” said Brandtzæg. “I don’t think it’s a one-off, I think it’s a trend for the future.”