Bezzy Is a Plush Data Center Doll That Screams When You Hug It

Oh, we have a cute alert. Meet Bezzy, an adorable anthropomorphic server rack and stuffed animal friend. Squeeze the soft doll, and it plays a piercing, abrasive ambient scream recorded at a real American data center.

Bezzy is a satirical stuffed animal created through a collaboration with New York-based creative studio Basura and Big Data, the musical project of producer Alan Wilkis. Wilkis is best known for the song “Dangerous,” a 2013 collaboration with Joywave.

The project is being announced alongside a new Big Data single called “Deploy a Data Center.” The goal is to give people a “friendly introduction to life in a real data center.”

Why does Bezzy scream?

Data centers are increasingly central to the artificial intelligence boom. Major AI companies are building them to power increasingly energy-intensive tools, with facilities spread across thousands of acres in the United States. Their energy consumption and expansion of gas-powered generation have drawn heavy criticism, while nearby communities have also raised concerns about data center noise.

One complaint about data center noise comes from nearby residents, including people involved in a lawsuit challenging noise pollution from Elon Musk’s data center.

A stuffed server rack with a deafening hum

The “Adopt a Data Center” stunt is designed to make people think differently about how data center services fit into everyday life. Bezzy looks like a server rack with long limbs and googly eyes, turning an industrial piece of infrastructure into a cuddly plush toy.

Squeeze Bezzy’s torso, however, and it erupts with several seconds of screeching audio recorded by a neighbor at a data center in Virginia. The sound was described as being like a car alarm that never stops. Bezzy’s tag reads: “Hug me for an eternal, deafening hum.”

“We chose this recording because it was the clearest and most appropriately frustrating,” Basura founder Rajeev Basu wrote in an email to WIRED. In an interview, the person who recorded the audio described it as “like a car alarm going off nonstop. It’s high pitched and that’s all you can focus on.”

What else is included in the Adopt a Data Center project?

Alongside Bezzy, the project includes stickers with messages such as “Every data center deserves a forever home” and “Open your heart. And the grid.” Basu said the project was informed by dozens of interviews with people living near data centers across the United States.

Basura is also working on other projects, including luxury clothing for dogs and, in partnership with Yerba Madre, “dirty shoes” designed to break down and scatter wildflower seeds during walks.

The project’s website uses the tagline “Data Center Hiring: Everything You Want,” adding another layer to the campaign’s playful take on the expanding data center industry.