EP 980 Data Centers Unite the Nation in Opposition

Underpinning the growing use of AI is the need for state-of-the-art data centers. These data centers host a large number of file servers and networking equipment that can store, process, and analyze text, images, code, and other information sources.  While data centers have been around throughout the computer, internet and cloud eras none so big and controversial as these.  One proposed in the state of Utah is larger than Manhattan.  Really!  The objection to these data centers has formed in red and blue states.  The concerns relate to the impact on water supplies needed to cool them, particularly in the Southwest, the spikes in electricity costs, the noise emitted and the giveaways that communities and states have bestowed upon them even if the economic impact on the local workforce is not very impactful.  Large tech companies are feeling the backlash and trying to develop community impact packages that deliver more to the sites where they are being built.  More than 4,000 are already in operation and 3,000 more are being planned or under construction.  To discuss this issue of growing importance is Darrell West, of Brookings, co-author of the book, “Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence.”

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