> let's build our giant demand machine directly on the steppe and skip all that expensive infra, because data is much cheaper to move than energy.

Who cares if it's cheaper. It's that you're moving less of it. The more processing you can do near the source the smaller and cheaper your pipe out to the consumer can be.

Cut the tree on the hillside. Mill it in the valley. Then spend your precious boxcar volume shipping only the finished lumber out of the valley.