It’s looking like opposition to datacenters will be a major fixture of upcoming U.S. elections.
It’s already a central issue in several gubernatorial races, Axios reports, citing Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as examples. Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor Josh Shapiro and his Republican opponent Stacy Garrity are both taking stances that would limit datacenter development in the state; yesterday Shapiro signed an executive order imposing strict requirements on datacenter construction, and Garrity has been campaigning on a full-blown halt. In Wisconsin, the candidates are each accusing the other of being overly friendly towards datacenter projects.
This view is bolstered by a frankly odd memo to AI companies from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which represents GOP candidates in campaigns. Also covered by Axios, the letter warns AI companies that datacenters are featuring heavily in a Democratic Senate campaign in Ohio, and “If voters’ perceptions of data centers are not fixed quickly, the campaign against them will expand far beyond Ohio.”
I can’t tell whether this is supposed to be a friendly warning or a threat by the Republican party to oppose datacenters if they lose Ohio, but either way, I don’t think AI companies need the encouragement to try painting datacenters in a positive light. The Wall Street Journal describes an ongoing publicity campaign promoting them; one Georgia effort by OpenAI featured an open house meeting, $150 million in community pledges, and a taco bar.
Datacenter builders like Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon have been making public commitments around electricity costs, water use, and jobs. Meta has also pledged a $1 billion fund for sweetening the deal in affected communities. I’m not getting the sense the communities are buying it, though.
I honestly feel some sympathy for these companies, as they experience a frustration many Americans share with the sea of misunderstandings, environmental reviews, and red tape that often plagues large-scale construction projects. Assuming the builders make and keep commitments to reimburse anyone affected, and offset costs like electric bills for the local community, I don’t think datacenters are innately bad. (Though it’s telling that they seemingly weren’t making such commitments until after the massive backlash, and that many builders are trying to keep construction a secret from communities with nondisclosure agreements.)
At the same time, I think AI companies’ reckless endangerment of our species is more than deserving of ire, and I have to respect the sea of grassroots opposition on display. And it’s not just limited to datacenters: The Washington Post reports on a Pew Research poll finding that when it comes to AI, “more concerned than excited” young Americans now outnumber the inverse five to one, and nearly three-quarters think AI will destroy more jobs than it creates.
I don’t think there’s a community pledge on Earth that is large enough to offset the direction they’re taking humanity’s future.
The analyses and opinions expressed on AI StopWatch reflect the views of the individual contributors and the sources they cover, and should not be taken as official positions of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute.