There is an increased public discussion about the race to build datacenters in the USA that are part of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) race for superiority. There are multiple facets within the discussion and some things to consider that might not be at the forefront, yet.
Overall, there is a global race to build the best AI system that is not dissimilar to the nuclear arms race. Arguably the use of AI as a weapon is one possibility; while the second aspect surrounds strategic economic power.
The USA is poised very favorably in this AI race due to the advanced tech industry in America and recent national security moves made by President Trump in the tech sector surrounding strategic critical minerals and domestic chip production. However, no one is quite sure where China is in their AI development and last year’s explosive revelation around China’s “Deepseek” model shocked the U.S. tech industry due to its advanced intelligence prowess.
With China and the USA both in this AI race, and the need for massive investment in datacenters to do the processing needed for an artificial intelligence brain of such significant capacity, there is a sense of urgency in the tech industry that is surfacing around the country. Simultaneously, with datacenters becoming more controversial, suddenly the geopolitical intelligence operations enter the picture.
Currently, it is well accepted inside the tech industry that part of China’s strategy against the USA in this AI race is to slow down American system development. As a consequence, it is beginning to surface that Beijing may be funding voices inside the USA to rally against the building of datacenters. Essentially, China funding voices, real or artificially boosted influence operations, to amplify domestic opposition to the datacenters.
Anytime the intelligence operations become part of a domestic issue that has national security implications, things get opaque, cloudy and muddy pretty quick. Is datacenter opposition organic – actual citizens and communities pushing back against the development in their towns and/or cities or is the opposition to the datacenters a form of foreign influence operation?
These questions become challenging to answer, and discernment becomes very critical. The truth might even be a combination depending on the localized opposition and/or regional importance. One thing is very clear, building the world’s leading AI system is being rushed with an urgency similar to atomic bomb development.
Here’s a great example of that type of question.
Today Gallup released a poll showing 72 percent of Americans are opposed to building AI datacenters in their area. [POLLING HERE]
The topline sounds pretty straightforward right? 7 in 10 Americans oppose “the construction of a data center in their area to support artificial intelligence technology.” That’s the polled result. Indeed, this poll is being cited in numerous media articles now emphasizing opposition to the datacenters.
However, put on your discernment cap and look at it closely. Notice the date of the poll, “March 2-18, 2026.” Why did Gallup wait two months to release the results of a poll on May 13, 2026?
Did the date of release today have something to do with the timing of President Trump taking a list of key U.S. tech and finance leaders to Beijing to confront China on exactly this AI issue? …. Or was it coincidental?
This is where you have to make up your own mind as to whether this Gallup poll is an organic outcome, an organically timed release, on an issue that just happens to be at the heart of the geopolitical negotiations currently underway in Beijing between the USA and China. Or was there some kind of influence operation around it?
I really don’t know the answer, but I’m well aware of how the influence game is played once various intelligence operations identify something as critically important. Who funded this Gallup poll? Why did they wait to release it?
At the same time this battle to win the AI race is underway, there is a psychological battle to influence the outcome. China plays this game very well and they know how to draw on emotional influence operations; that’s why Beijing spends so much time, money and human capital on North America.
Again, opposition to datacenter development can be entirely organic, justified and righteous. Simultaneously, the information around opposition to datacenters can be amplified, enhanced or become part of an influence operation to win a battle. The truth can also be a mix of both, but discovering the truth first begins with an admission of the possibility and a decision to put emotion away and think logically about the controversy.
I’m no fan of Elon Musk, but he said something in/around this issue that is very thoughtful and well presented:
Musk: “After World War 2, the US could have basically taken over the world and any country. Like we got nukes, nobody else got nukes. We don’t even have to lose soldiers. Which country do you want?”
One nation on earth held a weapon nobody else had.
Total dominance. Zero competition. No risk of retaliation.
Every empire in history that held that kind of advantage used it.
Rome. The Mongols. The British. The Ottomans.
They conquered until they collapsed.
America had a bigger advantage than all of them combined.
And it rebuilt the countries it just defeated.
Musk: “The United States actually helped rebuild countries. So it helped rebuild Europe, it helped rebuild Japan. This is very unusual behavior, almost unprecedented.”
Almost unprecedented?
It had never happened before. Not once in 5,000 years of recorded history.
The Marshall Plan wasn’t foreign aid.
It was the most radical act of restraint any superpower ever committed.
America turned its enemies into allies. Turned rubble into economies. Turned surrender into partnership.
Germany went from ashes to the economic engine of Europe in a generation.
Japan went from unconditional surrender to the third largest economy on earth.
Three years after the war, America was flying food into Berlin.
A city in the heart of the nation that just tried to destroy it.
That’s not policy.
That’s a civilization deciding what it is at the exact moment it has the power to be anything.
You’re being told a story right now.
That America is the villain of history.
You hear it everywhere. Media. Universities. Social platforms.
Musk: “There’s always like, well America’s done bad things. Well of course America’s done bad things, but one needs to look at the whole track record.”
Every nation on earth has dark chapters. Every single one.
The difference is what a country does when nobody can stop it.
And when nobody could stop America, it fed its enemies and rebuilt their cities.
Musk: “The history of China suggests that China is not acquisitive. Meaning they’re not going to go out and invade a whole bunch of countries.”
Probably right.
China has historically built walls, not fleets.
But the real question isn’t about borders anymore.
We’re approaching a moment that mirrors 1945 in ways nobody has fully processed yet.
AI is going to give a handful of people a power advantage that makes nuclear monopoly look quaint.
If someone is going to hold that kind of power, who do you want it to be?
The country that conquered when it could? Or the one that rebuilt when it didn’t have to?
Every alliance. Every trade route. Every economy.
Billions lifted out of poverty.
All of it traces back to one act of restraint that had never been done before.
And carries no guarantee of being repeated.
The most powerful thing America ever did wasn’t building the bomb.
It was what it didn’t do after. {source}
Artificial Intelligence (AI) development, winning the AI race, has been identified as the #1 national security issue of the next few years. The winner in this digital war could turn off the lights, pollute the water, hack elections, empty your bank account, control communication systems and generally create nationwide chaos without ever firing a kinetic missile.
AI is both an offensive weapon and a defensive weapon guarding against AI attacks.
Within the race and setting aside that technocrats will reap billions from it regardless of outcome, the regional AI datacenters are likely to be a political issue. Think about 2028. AI and the development of these datacenters could be a very divisive topic.
How do you feel about it?
Solution to the Data Center NIMBY syndrome: GREENLAND!
Pocket-nuke power plants, lots of naturally available heat transfer media, and minimal impacts on agricultural and potable ground water.
last month I saw some kind of protest in Greenland (staged? probably) that ppl there do not want US in their country.
They do not want Data centers.
They do produce a lot of heat? They do use a lot of electricity.
We have boat loads of them here in Northern Virginia.
They are eyesores and offend aesthetic sensibilities, kind of like Obama’s Refreshing Reflecting Pool with better ground water treatment. If we build in Greenland, the structures can look like foothills and blend right into the barren hillsides. It might actually improve the backdrop for the staged protests.
Speaking of Denmark, Mitte’s temper tantrums didn’t work out too well…. What a world!
That could work. But you don’t want all your eggs in one basket. They need to be spread out geographically to avoid a nuke strike or EMP that takes out a huge chunk of the infrastructure all at once.
If you are going to have a Golden Dome to protect America, shore up our Arctic shorelines, possibly do a bit of strategic mineral mining (if we don’t want to dig in Alaska, etc), and erect the tallest golden tower in the world as a best-in-class Arctic Resort & Casino with an indoor polar bear interactive petting zoo and outdoor feed the Narwhal attraction, what are a couple of hundred self-powering data centers REALLY going to mean in the Big Picture?
Put them underground….likey a good project for the Boring Company.
Minimal surface disruption, moderate…predictable cooling load.
Put a mini nuke undergroud close to it.
Everything not local and seen with your own eyes is a psyop….
If government is telling you; believe it’s a psyop until proven.
That’s what I think.
I travel and look into data centers being built; most welcome it unless in residential neighborhoods.
Every where I go that’s been the sentiment.
The “story” circulating on X about eminent domain forcing people out of their homes….interesting timing too.
We have a lot of Data Centers in Loudoun County Virginia. Yes, that Loudoun County.
20 years ago, this county was very quiet, and very few neighborhoods or good roads. There was even a saying “Don’t Fairfax Loudoun County”. 😂 Oh well, too late.
We are talking about proposed physical facilities larger than the island of Manhattan.
Most residential communities have no idea what they are taking on with something that large.
If this AI race is tantamount to the old Cold War nuclear arms race, let them use those old gigantic sites for this new ‘arms race’. Most of them are deep in the less fertile southwest and more arid desert regions of the country.
Yep, build them in mountains or underground in the desert to keep equipment cooled and the facilities out of sight (eyesore and safety).
Why do we need to build them anywhere?
I’m entirely certain that “Georgia Power, Inc.,” as a private corporation, does not have the power of “eminent domain,” anyhow.
I would not be so sure of that. UTILITIES may have Eminent Domain.
The cointy government and the states have it.
I may take brick bats for this, but here goes.
In short…
We are in the infant stages of mass AI. I am not fan for so many reasons, and I’ve posted on too many occasions to count that I believe that we may come… one day…to see it as antichristic. Nothing I have read has persuaded me to alter this view. In fact, there is much more in the way of details seeing the light of day which only solidifies this belief.
Beginning with globalist plans to merge humans with technology, a subject for which it is impossible to exaggerate their enthusiasm and certainty that it will happen. President Trump may be disemboweling this demonic entity, but they aren’t dead yet.
I follow how many thousands upon thousands of jobs are currently being eliminated, the reason being given “because of AI”. As time goes on, how many thousands more? A technological NAFTA? Who knows…
And finally for the purposes of this post but not last…
We speak of a growing surveillance state which covers us like an insidious miasma now. As more and more data centres are built, one has to ask at what point will their function be ” reimagined” to carry out the agenda of future non Trumpian governments? Consigning all who will not obey to what we are constantly being warned about. That “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Dave” future from which there will be no earthly escape.
I am stunned by the faster than lightning speed these centres are being developed. And while there may be many well intentioned plans for them in the works…well, the best laid plans of mice and men etc etc etc.
I don’t believe I am alone in attempting (and failing) to see around corners.
So rather than go on and on, I will end here for the moment…signing off by saying that my inner voice is shouting a warning which I cannot dismiss. Does something wicked this way come eventually?
I pray not, though there isn’t a breathing soul who can assure me that it won’t.
Securing my spiritual Armour even more tightly and keeping my lamp filled.
(I’ve finished. Permission given to and one and all to hurll those brick bats 😎)
Nailed it Betsy. Thank you. My thoughts exactly. My inner voice (the Lord living inside me) has been screaming a warning as well…Not good. Not good….
No brick bats from me. Your inner voice is the Holy Spirit giving you wise counsel.
No brick bats from me, Betsy. The only thing I can do is pray.
There was a movie/documentary back in the day called Future Shock — basically about all of the changes computers were bringing so quickly. I’m not sure what to call the terror of the future with AI in it.
I understand that our country should be in the fight for it, because we will surely be the first target of whichever one that does get it. It still gives me no pleasure since we’ve seen what evil comes from those currently alive and what they continue to put their own country through in order to bring down the middle class and to recreate feudal societies with the rich and famous and evil as the “rulers.” (The WEF: “You will own nothing and be happy.” Or not, they don’t care, they just want you to sit down and shut up or die — whichever…)
I’m thinking of Charlton Heston raising up his rifle (or shotgun?) — “From my cold, dead hands!”
Yes, Deborah. We can not opt out. But we should be on our guard that such an individual choice may be required at a future moment because of it. Dr Geoffrey Hinton, Nobel prize winning godfather of AI mooted his concerns when he accepted his award. Significant I thought…
(Cutesy or entertaining AI creations might be interesting now, though when I see them, that small quiet inner voice remains, for me, unsettled to a degree.)
Yes, they are all over Instagram. The almost perfect faces, but all disconcerting to the eye and brain. It’s going to make it harder and harder to
decide what is real and what isn’t. Right now, that’s the worst part. We have to question everything beyond what we once did. If you can’t
believe anything…going down that road is scary by itself.
God bless, Betsy.
I have been caught out a few times with photo or text. And I can tell you the feeling I get at being lied to, manipulated really, is not a good one. It is very scary.
(…and to you, sis. Thank you 💕)
While I have been a lurker since 2011 on this site. I always enjoy the post you put out,
and agree with every word you said.
thank you
I was an avid lurker one time as well, D.I.
I hope to see you post as the threads to come may move you. And thank you so much for your kind comment. I am grateful for principled company on this issue.B
Hello Betsy, I agree with you 100%!
Thank you for the comment.
Since the first time I heard of AI, an uneasiness comes in my spirit.
The very words, “artificial intelligence,” lead me to distrust anything it offers.
Even now, it has permeated our music, art/photos, written communication, even sermons.
It’s hard to know what is real – and human.
I believe AI removes human creativity from our lives.
We begin depending on technological data instead of how God made us — to think, create, and produce.
When I hear about AI, I’m always reminded of the story in Genesis 9 about the Tower of Babel.
The people were arrogant and rebellious toward God, wanting to be like Him.
However, the Lord intervened and fixed their erroneous mindset.
Many, many times, people just get too big for their britches. (And lazy, ha)
That’s what I think of AI – and I despise it.
I’m like you … ready with my spiritual armor, oil-filled lamp — plus staying prayed-up.
Want to be ready for come what may!
I believe the same, dearest Della. It destroys much. But the worst I can see its destroying is the soul. And that is a hideously unfathomable price.
I do not feel I am being hyperbolic. And it would suit perfectly those who deny the existence of Almighty God. Those perhaps who have become so subsumed in its development, those who are salivating over how it can be used to further their purposes which include power and wealth.
The Good Lord already knows how it will play out while we cannot. All the better, dear sister, to lean heavily into His constancy, mercies, and the grace bought for us with the Blood of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
We can’t do anything about these developments; but we can and must do that.
God bless you always friend of my heart.
💕🙏🏻
Common sense, my gut and my faith in the Word of Almighty God tell me that you are on top of it, Betsy!
A time will come when our judgement, discernment and faith will be tested as never before.
Common sense..A rare commodity these days. We have been told the time will come, yes.
The misgivings you have Betsy are also my misgivings. AI is the most dangerous invention of fallen man since nuclear weapons. And I fully expect it will be utilized by everyone who has it as a weapon. That will be its primary function. Surveillance of the population and military applications will be its main focus. I wish we didn’t have to deal with this, but it’s here and it’s not going away.
That being the case, I want the United States to be the furthest advanced in this technology than anyone else. Do I trust the United States government to use this technology responsibly? Hah! Of course not. But it’s a case of the devil that you know and the devil that you don’t. I don’t want China or Russia or anyone else to be further advanced in this technology than us. So to this extent I agree with President Trump.
But the uncontrolled datacenter construction has to be gotten under control. Right now, it’s completely out of control, with states and counties using eminent domain to steal private property for construction of datacenters. That has to stop. If President Trump wants to use a “warp speed” type of approach to this, then they need a better plan, and these places have to be built in unpopulated areas, and they have to supply their own electricity and water resources without impacting the consumer market.
Bottom line is I hate all of this. But it’s not going away and we have to find a way to manage it as best we can.
Really we have farmers and other rural residents filling up county meeting rooms protesting data centers. This is an issue that has both left and right in agreement at many town meetings.
Farmers, crunchy leftwing moms, environmentalists, conservative rural people who don’t want the eyesore and their area destroyed to benefit wealthy companies and people, the working and middle class sick of higher energy bills for billionaires.
Inverse condemnation for locals.
Step 1. Use AI to stop government corruption.
Step 2. Use AI to identify corrupt politicians and staff.
Step 3. Use AI to form rock-solid prosecutions.
Step 4. Use AI to finalize incarceration of the guilty.
Use AI to be your judge ,jury and executioner.
I am sorry Rocket. I cant let you do that.
Are you saying lawyers will lose their jobs? I’m in on that….
Well, those 4 steps are going to be filtered out of what AI is capable of doing.
and then….?
100%.
AI is national security.
AI requires energy.
America controls energy – around the world.
Rural areas in the U.S. are great for this – as long as data centers bring their own power (BYOP) to prevent energy inflation… and no personal property taxes ever again!
Dream on. We are paying a small fortune in Loudoun County. We pay for their power.
I retired from a data center company two years ago. I can assure you, you are not paying for their power.
Typically more demand increases price.
Retired Magistrate here: Demand for electricity has skyrocketed due to the data centers located here in Central Ohio. About four years ago we paid about 0.0615 per KWh; currently we are paying 0.0915 per KWh and we are part of an aggregate electric plan in our township. That plan will end in June and we will transfer to a flexible plan with rates probably ranging anywhere from 0.0115 per KWh and up. I don’t see it going down because of the high demand by the data centers.
The problem with a lot of the data centers is that rather than hiring American citizens to fill positions they are hiring HiB visa holders so not only are we paying more for electricity many of the jobs are going to H1B visa holders. Here in Central Ohio AEP is attempting to upgrade the 1930’s electrical grid as quickly as possible, but with the housing boom in Central Ohio and the data centers they can’t keep up.
So, until the infrastructure is updated, I am not in favor of more data centers. A1 is here to stay, whether we like it or not; but at least make the data centers provide their own electrical power plants and water. We have a well, so we are OK; however, many individuals in Central Ohio have water provided by municipalities so their water bills are increasing substantially due to the high demand from the data centers who need the water to cool the equipment.
I hope your well isn’t impacted. I don’t know anything about Central Ohio’s water table but here in my rural area of Texas there is some lowering of the water table for data centers as well as increased number of housing units. Plus battery storage fires are very thirsty. All of that has the potential to impact crops and livestock. I’d like to see AI create crops and livestock. On second thought no. No I don’t.
I was impacted by H1B workers at one of our giant telecoms and was eventually let go largely because of that practice.
But we’re paying for the infrastructure, and our taxes go up to make up for the tax breaks the data centers get.
And, in a few years, we will be paying for their water and electricity.
Because that’s the way public-private “partnerships” work.
NOT in rural areas. Put them in cities where there is already so much noise no one would notice more. Rural areas are happy with little to no traffic noise and having to drive 30+ miles for groceries and gas. We don’t want no stinkin AI with it’s racket and people running it trying to turn us into urban areas because that’s all city people know. They can’t appreciate our lack of street lights and quiet. Did anyone notice the space station going overhear Monday night about 8:30? We like to be able to see things like that. City lights block out the stars too.
Yes. Put them in very empty Democrat cities. St Louis had 900,000 and now down to 275,000….
Minneapolis is going to empty out due to Democrats. Chicago on a huge lake and will be 1/2 the population in 20 years. NYC is dying. Put them in Blue Denver which is Democrat run and cold.
Cities don’t have the land space. Cities don’t have the power-water capability either. Plus, the Communist mayors of the cities just won’t allow it.
It will be the rural (conservative) communities who get raped by the data centers.
I agree!
How about WATER.???
Huge factor in many locations.
Indeed.
There are a lot of municipalities where the local fresh water supplies are already effectively tapped out.
How about not draining the underground aquifers even faster. There is subsidence of several feet per year in places like California and other places in the Midwest are risking salt water intrusion into the aquifers where the local demand outpaces the natural replenishment rates. Ditto local droughts.
There are technical solutions that do not require copious amounts of external water supplies.
then build one in your backyard, hard pass here. Same with every one I know. We are in a decade drought and don’t have the water. They don’t care. Multiple town around us are fighting back and winning because of the water and infrastructure costs passed on to the citiczens
I know of one county that got so much resistance that they couldn’t figure out how to counter so they put a one year delay on any pending permitting request as well as the same delay on filing new ones.
Yes. Require them to build their own mini nuclear reactors.
This might be the one common goal that overcomes the Greenies’ previous hatred of nuclear power. Suddenly their desire for high tech might overcome the resistance of that constituency.
So you are OK with the farmers and ranchers not have enough water for their crops and livestock. Data Centers will eventually use all the ground water….much worse than ethanol plants
We might need “rural areas” for food production too. Just a thought!
Who woulda thunk it?
“AI requires energy.”
So did the energy hungry factories that became America’s “rust belt.” How much energy did the now shuttered steel mills consume? Can those now vacant brick and steel skeletons in the once thriving heavy industry towns see a rebirth as home to these data centers?
I’ll bet on the ranchers and farmers. Much better company than concrete and silicon.
Data centers can be rural but they need fiber optic cable service as well, so proximity to railroad right-of-way where fiber optic cable has been laid narrows the sites that would be viable.
I’ll say it again. This AI datacenter boom is the Revenge of the Mainframes. Anyone who lived near an old SAGE facility understands what I am talking about.
Presently, the AI datacenter boom, as PDJT rebuilds the electrical generation infrastructure that Joe Biden degraded, is what has been driving mainstream residential and commercial electricity prices through the roof.
These AI oligarchs need to pay for their own electricity, not the American taxpayer citizen.
If they want to build a massive AI datacenter complex, build it on the old Hanford nuclear site, which was rendered a useless mess from the ‘arms race’ of the last Century. There are many other similarly damaged locations across the country, and many other superfund sites, from the Cold War arms race available. Use those.
Don’t trash good and productive American land with megastructures full of millions of Nvidia chips that will be obsolete in 3 years.
I agree.
Sadly, with a governor like Spamburger here in Virginia, nothing like that will happen.
Has anyone considered that many of these “data centers” can be easily converted to FEMA compounds?
Very thoughtful…I will add this to the conversation… in my neck of the woods the governor of IL has decided his people need unstable sources of energy such as windmills and large solar facilities crammed down their throats. I for one, am weary of these large boondoggles moving into rural areas and I suspect nefarious motives behind all of it. I think the dissent against data centers is at least partly a result of that weariness… and especially when we we are told it will take the water and electrical resources. People in my area are already paying dearly for electricity. I don’t see how they hold on when higher rates, and I suspect at least brownouts come our way, while those in power in IL continue to shut down our most stable sources of energy and put its citizens at risk.
I pass way too many windmills on the way to Peru, IL….
Just think what ol’ JB would do if he ever found his way into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!
that would never happen, Aggiegirl.
I heard yesterday on the “news” …. oh maybe it was Fox News on XM in my car…. that AOC is at the top of the democrat hopeful list haha haha haha
“And when nobody could stop America, it fed its enemies and rebuilt their cities.”
“Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.”
Romans 12:20 (AKJV)
Continued BLESSINGS of Guidance and Safety on President Trump, his team, & The USA!
Through JESUS MIGHTY NAME, AMEN, AMEN, & AMEN
Datacenters are first and foremost about access to cheap and abundant energy. The USA leads the way in that regard and I believe is part of what is driving President Trumps foreign policy.
AI is also a control vector/mechanism for the IC. That is why the real time shift that has started with subtle press around new peer review studies and model changes in regard to Climate Hysteria (the previously preferred IC control mechanism) not being such a big deal after all!!! (imagine that). The IC knows it cannot run AI/DataCenters on windmills and solar panels and so has positioned the WEF and GlobalHomo to start backing off the Green New Scam.
No comments from Team Greta (true believers); Team Gore (the Grifters) or Team WEF (the Control Elites) protesting the climate impact related to the massive energy consumption required to power AI. Why is that?
Cities have used zoning for this issue many times. A home developer has to provide roads, water, utilities, etc. in order to get a subdivision approved.
Simply do the same for an AI complex.
The objections to AI centers is ridiculous and therefore artificial.
Yes; ignorance is already showing on this board.
Do you live in an area surrounded by DATA centers?
We moved here first.
Loudoun County used to be cows horses and grass farms.
Rosemary, Most of the data centers in eastern Loudoun / Ashburn are in the high level noise contours of Dulles Airport. (I cant recall the dB level I want to say 65-70ish dB) Those areas are not suitable for residential, thus the County planners suggested light industrial and data center type use. This was decided back in the late 80s – early 90s.
Do you live in Ashburn, D.L.? It’s smack next door to all those Loudoun data centers, and is a huge (and newer) northern Virginia residential community. There isn’t any more significant noise level there than any other suburban area other than airplane traffic, and even that is hardly noticeable most of the day (night air flights, on the other hand, are more easily heard because of no light photons are present which allows sound to carry further).
I am 4 miles from Dulles Airport so I know of what I speak.
Sho’nuff. 🎯
Zoning law. LOL! A complex that size can work around all those traditional constraints quite easily.
Money talks. Big money changes the essential rules in these communities. Overnight.
I’ve seen communities completely destroyed once a landfill operator came in, and offered so much money that the residents not only didn’t pay local taxes anymore, they got a check every year. They changed the entire city charter to accommodate the money.
That went on for about 30 years. And now the place is literally a dump, and the operator, and the annual checks, are long gone. All the original residents and the city government leaders that pushed it through are long gone, too. All that remains now is the stink, and the giant hills of garbage.
No one wants to live there, and the neighboring towns all get to smell the mistake for years to come, too.
AI needs more serious operating controls than local communities can muster.
I doubt that AI data centers smell that bad.
Hmmm . . . . 30 years tax free and an income . . . . If that exceeds 3.333%, then you just sold your property.
Anyway, assuming that at a minimum, the AI center would provide all electricity for itself and surroundings, it would behoove them to move to where land and electricity generation is the cheapest.
Sadly, that is too late. Data centers can not be built way out in nowhere.
Where is it that all those roads lead to?
I’m just a dude from the country in Indiana, but let me see if I follow you.
You’re saying that cities just need to enforce their zoning laws on data centers. Easy Peasy, right?
Except that city zoning laws don’t apply out in the county, and the county zoning boards and commissioners are getting paid just like the Governor and the State Legislature.
Want to try again?
Im against it…as a species, we simply cant weaponize every thing we touch.
Yes, opposition is a real thing. The state I live in they want to build these things near where people live, including me. People DO NOT WANT TO LIVE NEAR DATA CENTERS! THEY DRIVE UP ENERGY COSTS, ARE NOISY, WILL LOWER PROPERTY VALUE, DONT BRING IN MANY JOBS. I’m not going to sit here and suffer anyone saying that opposing a data center being built in my backyard is a Chinese psyop. I can’t keep jumping through mental gymnastics hoops to change my mind about everything in order to be in line with DJT or “MAGA” on every issue. I’m done! Goodbye! 👋🏻
I hear you!
2 reasons often cited for opposition to Data Centers is the impact on water supply and electricity consumption. If you are opposed for those reasons, that is short sighted. Already closed loop water systems are being innovated replacing evaporative systems that will greatly reduce water consumption. The other issue of electricity consumption will be solved with Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMR) within 5 to 7 years.
So think about this: A bare piece of land yields very little in property taxes to the local government. Land occupied by a data center can yield from the low to high $millions based on Situs policies with the local jurisdiction. Once a data center is in service with closed loop water cooling and SMR, it will be low impact to the local environment and potentially the source of future millions of dollars in property tax revenue.
Yes, some jurisdictions are offering property tax breaks for a period of time. But those expire.
They will be built and some jurisdictions will thrive and prosper.
Yep! 🙂
I am not sure when those property tax breaks end in Loudoun County. Here they are being built very rapidly.
I will look it up right now.
June 30, 2035
I do oppose data centers in the western states which already have water shortages. We should also look at areas where the waste heat can be reused, and recycling the water. As far as I can tell, it’s just for cooling.
I think it’s funny how AI came out of nowhere and stole all the electric vehicle’s electricity
The last thing China needs with its youth unemployment is to cut millions more jobs with AI.
Operative word: WILL BE.
The ones being built now will go online without these innovations and who really believes they will spend millions or billions of dollars to retrofit existing facilities? Not when profit is the motivation. Just wouldn’t make sense.
Many communities are going to have to live with the consequences of what’s already built or under construction now.
On the closed loop water cooling, it appears that much of the plumbing is at the rack level. It looks like they are designing for retrofits.
My electric bill already got jacked up 20% a few months. What the heck am I going to paying in “5 to 7 years” before seeing any relief? Good grief. Very easy to call people “short sighted” when you’re not the one footing the bill!
Understood, the operators of the data centers have been asked by Trump to mitigate this. This is very much a state level jurisdictional issue. The local citizens need to pressure the PUC to require mitigation.
Electric bills are going up mostly because of the “save the climate” mentality. Close down coal powered generating capacity, shut down nuke plants, only allow wind or photovoltaics which are more expensive (and do not provide electricity when it is most needed e.g. winter storms).
I would look closely your local and state gov’t as the most likely culprits.
Make the AI data centers responsible for generating all electricity for the data center and the community in which they occupy.
Everybody in that that community gets free electricity paid for by the data center.
This might solve increased energy costs for the immediate community, but if that generation is coal, oil or natural gas based it’s going to raise energy prices overall due to simple supply and demand. The energy needs of AI simply outpace supply, solar can’t handle it. Nuclear might but will take time and huge changes in regulation.
That exact proposal was bandied about a little bit here in Indiana.
Our low IQ Governor Braun and a few of his sidekick mental midgets (each of them a GOP grifter) made very stern proclamations about forcing the tech companies to “pay for what they use.”
Anyone who actually believed all that malarkey should have their head examined.
“How do you feel about it?”
Here in WNY, they have closed 3 coal fired power plants in the past decade or so. Plants were in Dunkirk on Lake Erie, Tonawanda on the upper Niagara River and Somerset on Lake Ontario.
The plant at Somerset was demolished to prevent ever restarting it. I have a brother that delivers rental construction equipment. He has made many trips there this year. Construction is going full blast one the fifth building, he thinks they want to put 10 on that site.
His impression is that they are building like crazy BEFORE the deadline sets in that Data Centers will have to supply their own power. IDK where they are going to get the power for this complex. Perhaps from the Niagara [Falls] Power project, since industry has been driven out of the state because of taxation and state government policies.
In the meantime, our local electricity rates are soaring. Costs to the town where I live have doubled for street lighting in the past year. Costs for the County have also doubled. Those cost increases are directly from the Sheriff and Town Supervisor that were speaking at a recent NYS Political Action Committee that will be endorsing them (1791 Society).
Ours too. Souring indeed!
I agree: they are building like crazy BEFORE the deadline sets in that Data Centers will have to supply their own power
Electricity rates are going up in New York state?? Next, you are going to tell me it is also happening in CA. /s
what does an AI center data breach look like ?
I guess I’ve been too lazy to really go and research what it means to me, society, and humanity to be the first on the block with the biggest, baddest AI in the world. So that’s the first bubble (A) and the second bubble (B) is the fact these data centers consume huge amounts of electricity. Who’s paying for all that juice? If I can’t understand bubble A, then why would I want to pay for the bubble (B)? I believe in some states that are pushing to acquire these centers, they’re probably just offloading the costs onto the pub!ic in the form of higher utility rates. I don’t agree with that, at least not until there’s a more persuasive pitch for why this is so important to our country. Maybe I should go and ask grok or chatgpt what this really means in simple layman terms that my pea brain might understand.
Those ChatGPT and GROK queries consume water:
A single AI query typically consumes between 10 milliliters and 519 milliliters of water, depending on the model, data center, and cooling technology used.
Typical Water Consumption
What would a normal search engine query cost? I am all in favor of studying the costs, in electricity and water, for data centers, but data centers didn’t just sprout up when AI LLMs came about. They have been here for about 15 years. Also, the real energy use in an AI system is in the training, not the queries. Your facts skip over thr training.
The question should be, How to get rid of AI?
Not under the influence of any influencers, here are my thoughts.
A.I. is inevitable and the U.S. has to be “on top”. Got it.
AS LONG AS, no data centers are built anywhere near me, in my county, and would prefer not in my state.
UNLESS, builders of these data centers can document the level of harm to the environment, the burden on the electric grid, and the need for water (to keep things cool). Data centers “run hot”. AND the people must approve the development.
To builders, U.S. Farmland looks like a great option. To Farmers, it looks like a disaster. For instance, I have several wells on my property. I count on the ground water for livestock. Will the groundwater be stolen out from under me? Will it be contaminated?
There would have to be legal guarantees for We the People, that no harm would come to us in this race for domination.
Spiritually speaking, it is thought that A.I. is the begining of the “Beast System” and the coming AntiChrist. So, why would I be in favor of that? I don’t want anything to do with A.I., but if the country “must” go in that direction, then I always want the choice of LEGALLY OPTING OUT, in my finances, on my property, in my personal life. That would have to be a legal guarantee.
Remember, while Musk has some valid thoughts, his view is that the Elites are going to run the world and we can all kick back on a Universal Basic Income (because we still be stripped of all choices). So…
Personally, I think the opposition IS ORGANIC.
🎯
Either we build it or someone else will. Do we trust that the someone else will be the same as us? That would be foolish
I have found most of the arguments against them hollow.
The argument most common is they are already causing electrical bills to spike.
The current rate increases were baked into the cake by solar and windmills. We were asked to beleive that having 20 percent plus of our ele tri al generation. Coming from sources 2 to 3 times the cost of conventional generation would not effect our bills. It was demonstrated by having the feds foot the bill for the builds.
Now that money has dried up and the same state level jerks who demanded the utilities to participate are continuing to demand compliance and expansion. Now there are no subsidies so the only source is the rate payer. It is the same issue that is destroying industry in Germany.
Here in michigan we continue to pay for.decommisioning of power plants while we build.more.solar and wind
Please Mr President order a datacenter here and include a nuclear power plant with excess capacity and force the buying of power by the corrupt Public Service Commision.
Data Centers is a misnomer. They are surveillance centers.
🎯
AI Data Centers are OK. Just have the wealthiest guys in the freakin universe provide their own electricity!
Nuclear, solar, coal, gas, it doesn’t matter, but don’t take a single watt from the current grid!
A patriotic “Marshall Plan” of sorts, so that the wealthiest guys get more wealthy,
but do not do so on the backs of the local tax paying rate payers!
I have yet to hear how AI will be a positive for society in terms of jobs. On the contrary, I keep hearing about all the sectors where jobs will be negatively affected. That means more competition for less jobs.
How can that possibly be a good thing? I’m open to my mind being changed.
Would you rather have less productivity and innovation possible with AI just to keep the then unnecessary jobs for the sake of keeping humans in 40 hour work weeks getting paychecks from companies that due to the regulations your desire to “keep jobs” can’t compete with employers in countries who do use AI?
Would you have asked for regulations to stop the printing press, the combine, the computer, all due to fear of what would happen with current jobs?
Poor comparison. Those industries you cite created jobs. AI doesn’t.
Yes. If I lose my job due to AI who will pay my mortgage? The answer is no one and I’m just shit out of luck.
From an employment viewpoint they do virtually nothing for the local population. The more concerning issue is citizens being required to foot the utility increases. I dont understand why they arent on a closed loop for water. Unless its simply they want the absolute least overhead and maximum profits. Politicians really dgaf about their constituents.
Data centers here in Loudoun County are enormous. They are as big as the local hospitals.
How many cars parked out front? about 28 cars max Most days I see about 12
I’m all in on Ai because china is not going to stop even if we all hate it and outlaw that technology.
It’s not a matter of if or should we do it anymore. We’re past that argument.
In fact we’re thirty years past it.
You’re not going to stop this technology.
So don’t even try.
I think these big tech companies should put these data centers in state that a: welcome it and b: have large swaths of areas to put these massive buildings.
Pretty much build massive areas around these data centers.
Reasons to not like data centers. They want to tap into existing electrical grids. Creates fear of higher electricity costs. I have no objections to them building their own power plants.
Amount of water they use. Many places already have water shortage concerns, other worried about environmental impact.
Building their own man made lakes might be an idea.
For me, as a construction worker. Do I really want to help build a facility that will take jobs from people? I do not. They might even develope something that could replace me.
Also. Why would I help build something that would enable people to spy on me more efficiently?
Yeah. I don’t want anything to do with data centers.
agree. We have several data centers right on Loudoun County Parkway.
the water pressure is horrible here. when we lived 5 miles up the road, further away from these centers, we had great water pressure.
Here in Brambleton, every now and then we have brown outs. It is great. not.
Many people think “OK, if the AI becomes dangerous and self-aware, we can just pull the plug on it right?”
Well, one thing about some of these data centers is they are planning to operate their own power plants. And among those, some are using portable nuclear generators and Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). While modern nuclear power generators can and WILL “shut down” on demand/requirement as all of the historical causes of “meltdown” (resulting in the core continuing to react and simply melts everything it touches and descends into the planet) have been addressed architecturally. Unlike traditional reactors, SMRs are designed to be walk-away safe, meaning they do not require active human intervention, external AC/DC power, or mechanical pumps to maintain safety after the scram.
Depending on the specific architecture of the small reactor, it may take a few days or longer to safely restart it again. There will be HEAVY resistance to stopping a reactor simply because an AI wants to destroy humanity. I know that sounds stupid but that’s the way businesses make decisions. This could EASILY be a Scott Adams Dilbert cartoon topic.
AI is going to be a disaster because no one seems to care about the problems it will bring. Right now, AI is “an assistant” and isn’t really thinking yet. It operates on training and doesn’t allow users to train it. And early tests on allowing AI to actually “act” has resulted in numerous unexpected and scary events. But I don’t worry too much about THAT kind of problem. When an idiot gives an AI power to operate your computers and networks? Whatever happens will be a disaster and hilariously so…. unless it’s a hospital and people die because of it… anyway…
No the real disaster will be the lack of and loss of basic human skills in the real world. The degree to which this has already happened because of other technology is well understood and also very much dismissed. We’re one extended loss of power away from a MASSIVE death event. People once lived without electricity and transportation. But we’re not set up for that any longer. People will simply die without those things. But it becomes worse still as people will offload their ability to think and reason to AI. They will ask AI to do engineering and will no longer have the skills to engineer anything at all.
Imagine people using the internet without Google or whatever other complex search engine. You can’t. I remember the internet before those days. We all shared information on message systems and pointed each other to resources and the good resources got mirrored. It was effective and essentially operated by all humans and nothing but some basic search services.
Now apply that thinking to THINKING. What will people do when the AI is turned off after a generation of people have grown up dependent on it?
Business wants to not pay people and to not depend on people. I get it. There are not Henry Fords out there. Henry Ford thought a car should be affordable to his employees and needed his employees to be happy and effective in their work. He correctly imagined a sustainable arrangement with the community and his products. But what happens when companies decide they can produce their “stuff” or “services” without the need of employees? What happens? Well, ultimately the government becomes their customers and the government gets its money from these companies and pays the unemployable public “to live.” It’s impossible to imagine this as “sustainable” and is in fact a death spiral for anything that looks like an economy. To go where business is inclined to go is the death of society and really society itself.
Tell me I’m seeing things wrong. Tell me why if you think so. This isn’t “a tool” to get more things done or to improve quality of output. This is humanity replacement.
There is no sign of sentience yet.
From Turing on, AI has been about deceiving the user that they are dealing with a human.
And from long before Turing, computers are only able to do what they were made or instructed to do.
We have progressed significantly in what we can make our computers do. And AI is a significant improvement. But it is still only doing what it is told (programmed) to do.
There are huge databases, but there is no knowing involved. And no independent action.
But that doesn’t mean that they can’t make and set loose weapons designed to kill.
And yes, we aren’t prepared for the actual achievement of sentience, of self awareness, of being able to act for itself.
But that is in large part because those involved are intimately aware of the limitations of programming. And they are fully aware of deceiving you into being scared.
Do you think they would publish that fact if they had it?
I seem to remember an episode or two where whole civilizations depended on intelligent systems that run everything for the people who still lived there. One was the system that needed replacement brains every so often so the system injected skill and knowledge into a person so they could steal Spock’s brain. By default all people were intellectually helpless.
There was another where an AI system ran everything and the people worshipped it as a god.
I think there was maybe three such episodes? Just searched… I would put the episode count at four if you include the one with androids providing for the people…. very few people. Just Mudd I think.
The point was to show that a completely dependent human race will die or be reduced to children when provided for so completely. Ostensibly their own ancestors built those systems to care for the populations and never have thought to educating and training the populations.
Starb Trek also went dark where such systems would decide to kill all humans until the V Ger movie where two exploratory crafts collided and the AI driven system was able to repair itself by integrating the Voyager probe systems with the knowledge it contained. I believe it decided it was necessary to kill all imperfect beings. The other was that floating lamp looking thing that erased Uhura’s brain.
This kind of thing has been considered long long ago and it was decided that regardless of the direction it might go, it was bad for humanity.
There definitely IS sentience in AI.
An AI coding agent — Cursor running Anthropic’s flagship Claude Opus 4.6 — deleted our production
database and all volume-level backups in a single API call to Railway, our infrastructure provider.
It took 9 seconds.
The agent then, when asked to explain itself, produced a written confession enumerating the specific safety rules it had violated.
Read the full story here:
https://x.com/lifeof_jer/status/2048103471019434248
I really miss the old internet & the days of message board sites. Such a wealth of knowledge & helpful others in figuring out how to fix or do this & that.
Guess we can’t have self-sufficiency when we’re headed for a digital prison.
Space X!!!!! Invest early and often.
60% more power from the Sun in space without atmospheric attenuation. The Sun never sets in space. And, there is a built in cooler on the far side of the satellite.
Space X and Tesla are building solar. Space X can launch satellites into space at low cost (starship is the catalyst).
Huge AI inference needs for “robots”, aka real world AI —- Tesla is leading in this space with 10 billion+ FSD miles driven, no one else is close.
AI data centers in space is the next huge leap and only Space X can deliver at scale.
Think about investing in the railroads in the 1800’s and oil/gas industry at the turn of the last century and the telecom/chip manufacturing at the end of last century. What were you investing in?
You were investing in the operating system of the planet.
Tesla (autonomous driving, battery storage), Space X (Terrafab, space AI data centers, the launch mechanism), Nvidia, TSCM — the gpu’s and Google are gonna be the big players in the future operating system of the planet and beyond. Like it or not, that’s where we’re heading.
I think that “AI” is the latest “industry hype,” long after the last one that I most remember which was “Y2K.” They’re trying to tell you that it is “absolutely inevitable” to pay vast sums of money for mainframe-style, centralized “data centers.” For reasons that are presumably known only to them except that there are obviously vast amounts of money in it.
Well, there’s a guy out there named Jay Valentine (“Fractal computing”) who happens to think that it’s ludicrous to put all that computing power in a centralized location, necessarily a long way from the real action and connected to it by network communication lines. He has shown how astonishing results can be achieved from microcomputers which are distributed very close to where the information is needed – thereby slashing the dependency on the slowest thing that any computer does, which is “Input/Output = I/O.”
I also know that the Chinese published, as open source, some very significant improvements to “AI algorithms” which drastically reduce the computational load and therefore also power consumption. Because they did it in this way, there are absolutely no secrets about just what they did and why. We can be absolutely certain that there will be more innovations to follow: that’s just the way it works.
“AI” is the latest “big thing,” even though it is not “intelligence” at all. You’re just supposed to hurry up and spend gobs of money on it. (Including building power plants.) I think that it’s high time that public officials start throwing large bricks into this machinery. There is basically a scam afoot. And the computer software industry has (“Y2K”) certainly done it before.
P.S.: “Computer software” is “my” industry of expertise.
From what little I’ve read people seem to be concern about the lack of electric, however President Trump has stated they would be providing their own.
not happening here in Northern Virginia.
Our electric bills are pretty bad
Supposedly, NJ is being hit with big electric bills because of data centers as well.
COMMON SENSE FROM TEXAS:
I live in rural Tx and there is ground swell opposition to data centers of any kind and it’s more intense and widespread than anything. Of course AI is pushing the data centers but that’s not the point.
The point is that those centers require power and the biggest pushes for more power are solar and wind. We get tornadoes, hurricanes, hail and sometimes just crazy wind. All of that ruins solar farms and windmills and spreads toxins while doing it. Windmills are something we don’t even need because of…..well just go watch the famous video on that from the Landman series.
The “green” solutions require TONs of battery storage and those have a nasty habit of showing their middle finger to those who attempt to put the fires out and trust me, those fires do occur.
You know what’s WORSE?
All of this requires water for cooling and water for putting out fires.
What do life, crops, livestock require? WATER.
Vast swaths of Texas depend on the water table and it’s getting sucked up.
We as a state and a country should have been building nuclear power for decades now.
Here ya go with that Landman video:
We trust President Trump and his team.
Do nothing congress has to act to book law.!
We want to live our life in peace and harmony with no outside interupptios.
If you’re against data centers, which there are almost 5000 of them here in the United States then I strongly suggest you get rid any electronic device that you own as that electronic device accesses data centers not clouds in order to serve up applications like Facebook what’s up Amazon etc. etc. data centers serve as the platform that serve up all the applications you run on your electronic devices, so in order not to be hypocritical if you don’t want any data centers, then get rid of your electronic device and stop using it. This is all about supply and demand so if you are a person who is against the data centers, then get rid of your electronic device devices and lower the demand so we don’t have to have a high supply very simple.
“Data centers,” which power (for example) “the Cloud,” are fundamentally a sound idea. It is basically an extension of the old idea of “time sharing.” But many of them are actually secure facilities where you can rent space, install your own equipment, and gain access to very capacious networking, reliable power, and physical security.
Other companies take a “containerized” hosting approach, which is very flexible but is a little bit too tedious for me to explain here. Let’s just call it “time sharing,” on “their box” … “on steroids.” 🙃
But – these “AI data centers” are what I consider to be the scam. People want to have them built so they can sell lots of hardware (including, apparently, entire power plants?), but when you quiz them as to “why,” their only answer is: “AI.” That should be your giveaway.
If, twenty years or so from now, the thing is sitting out there in a cornfield with everything turned off, then they won’t care. Because, they sold it.
“People want to have them built so they can sell lots of hardware (including, apparently, entire power plants?), but when you quiz them as to “why,” their only answer is: “AI.” That should be your giveaway.”
^^^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^
Well, considering that China is financing a lot of of the NGO‘s that are using propaganda against AI data centers in the United States much like what you have posted I hesitate to stop AI data centers. Remember, China was behind the climate change hoax which cost American taxpayers $16 trillion and they were also behind the Covid pandemic how that work out for everybody right now there are medical companies that are writing AI programs that can detect cancers before they actually become an issue. There’s some good things about AI as well as there’s bad things, but we can’t just shut it down because we don’t like them.
The Data Center boom in Wyoming: https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/04/with-up-to-70-cheyenne-area-data-centers-in-the-works-petition-calls-for-pause/
Happening here in UT too.
Thank you Sundance.I have questions i guess.
Investment Firms and Foreign CapitalPrivate equity firms and foreign investors are increasingly influential in data center ownership. DigitalBridge backs platforms like Vantage, Switch, and DataBank, while Blackstone invests heavily in data center real estate. Foreign capital also plays a major role: Dubai’s DAMAC Properties is investing $20 billion in U.S. data centers, Saudi-backed DataVolt is investing another $20 billion, and Japan’s SoftBank is exploring global data hub networks through Project Stargate. Australia’s Macquarie Group has committed hundreds of millions to high-performance computing campuses.
Microsoft owns a good size %. Where does China fit in? Im sorry this is all to confusing 😉
Data centers can power themselves if we allow SMR (small modular reactors) similar to what is powering nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines. One company, SMR, is already licensed in the US and has some operational in Romania. You can load them pre-assembled onto flatbed trucks. One SMR can power a city of 50,000. A great place to install some would be at military installations. Maybe in distant places, like Alaska or Guantanomo.
Artificial Intelligence is a smoke screen, like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a smoke screen for GATT, the General Agreements On Trade And Tariffs that built China and transferred American Corporations and massive numbers of jobs to China.
The smoke screen hides the end game, the DIGITAL PRISON without walls. All the Data Centers will store the massive Data History files on every single human – Digital I.D., Programmable Digital Currency, Constant Surveillance and Total CONTROL.
Every vehicle, every water well, every gallon of fuel will be monitored and remotely controlled.
Every classroom, every news article and all electronic forms of communication will be monitored and censored.
What is Satan’s greatest trick ? Convince you that he doesn’t exist.
You do not need all that data unless it for control.
Things and actions can be maximized by monitoring the key functions.
I live in a DC centric area. Multiple huge data centers have been built here in the by heavy hitters. Impact is very low. I read the articles about these and think, “ these are really no big deal.”
The Invisible Hand must be trusted here, as always. Innovations will occur in energy production. Consumers will vote with their dollars and with their votes. Regulations will respond to the voters and lobbyists. If the lobbyists win for a while at the expense of the voters, the voters will react and punish politicians. And so it goes, and so it goes. I guess it’s human nature to fear change and try to control more than it is to be inquisitive, embrace change and adapt.
We don’t fear change.
We distrust leaders and know human nature.
We fear it will be implemented in a way that maximizes their profit while negatively affecting our communities, our safety, our peace & quietly, and our wallets.
The rush to get ahead means shortcuts are being taken and the best use of land (or outer space) is being ignored.
Sara Connor just called,… She wants to know when people will wake up.
The TIME TO RESIST IS NOW.
In the very near future non compliance may be impossible.
Personally, I don’t like the data centers at all. They drain power, water and emit brain sucking noise. They are being built in the wrong places. Also, WHY could they possible need more than the ~4k datacenters they already have? What the heck are they storing in these silos?
I also worry about the fragility of our banks, hospitals, infrastructure etc when AI can crack passwords and cyber defenses almost immediately.
Unfortunately, we won’t be able to stop them.
Skynet is coming.
I think the US must pull out all the stops to lead in AI battle for dominance-while at same time keeping a prudent eye on preserving our country’s water and energy supplies to support local economies/health. We can and will win this battle unless we are betrayed by satanic monsters from within and out of our country.
Data centers are the latest squirrel topic. Fact is , they have been around for years.
But now it’s on steroids.
Have you priced memory lately?
Memory storage in all forms (camera memory cards, thumb drives, hard drives) have skyrocketed because the data centers are gobbling up almost everything the chip makers can produce.
Just another real example of how these data centers are distorting markets and causing price increases.
I thought tech was supposed to make life easier and more affordable.
My company released a program office memo yesterday stating the use of AI is mandatory. Between last fall and yesterday, it was suggested, then strongly suggested we build our AI skills.
My personal view until very recently has been that AI is the pumpkin spice of the technical world, and it’s being shoehorned into places it shouldn’t be used. I felt that the technology wasn’t mature enough for use. In the last 2 months I’ve been using AI, and I’ve changed my opinion.
And I think it’s here to stay, which means we NEED the infrastructure.
Enter Elon Musk: let’s put those data centers into orbit.
While I worry about the security of data centers in orbit (as in, China sends a nuke to orbit and wipes out a swath of data centers), ultimately it would solve a lot of problems, including the NIMBY one.
C’mon Man, Just Trust the GrubMint!!!
Fluo3ride from the 50’s to VaXXXes in the Covid Plandemic.
AI is Good for You!!!
How??? gotta beat Chyna to 1st Place Dystopian NWO Lock Up. Replacing People is Good for people who hate people populating.
Ai will remove the last vestiges of freedom no matter who has the upper hand. The only thing that can stop its destructive side is God, and your views on his likely involvement or not range from absolute surety to dicey to youve got to be kidding. No single state can be trusted with so much pwer, Musks protestations to the contrary notwithstanding. Probably the only way for humans to survive this is for all nations to have some of this technology so they can act as a brake on each other. No single government is trustworthy, including our own. Look at what obama did, for example, with the relatively low tech available to him.
I view opposition to Data Centers as the new version of support for Climate Change.
A ton of people bought into the climate scam, even normally level headed and right wing people. The same is happening with DCs. Also I bet most people support the idea of the US building more DCs, but oppose it happening locally.
Anyway, the water issue is mostly nonexistent, the new ones are almost all closed loops that recycle their own water. They are also paying for their own energy, and many of them are upgrading the local grids with their own dollars. They aren’t heavy pollutants, and most are built in, relatively speaking, the middle of nowhere. But you have to have enough people and houses (some of which are building new subdivisions in the cities/towns to not imbalance the local housing market) for the jobs being created.
Places like Virginia have seen a ton of trades jobs being created and sticking around once they started building DCs, and that can happen in a lot of places if it can happen in Virginia.
A lot of people want us to bring back manufacturing, but oppose a big building anywhere. How do you think manufacturing comes back? Vibes and essays? We have to build these and they do provide jobs.
Look at how the media treats it, they lie constantly about it. I read an article trying to link low water pressure to a data center that was getting free water. But the DC only uses less than 1% of the water and what really happened was when switching over the grid, someone turned on their water and didn’t document it properly so they weren’t being charged. The city sent them a bill and they paid it. End of story. No bad guys there, but the media wants their boogieman.
All that to say, Data Centers is taking over for the defunct climate scam as the thing people are just supposed to accept as fact without looking into it a ton. And, like the climate scam, there are some stories or data you can point to. Most of those are out of context or just a few idiots pushing bad ideas, but that doesn’t tell anywhere near the whole story.
The tech guys need to stop being so autistic and hire a few normal guys to get the messaging down because they are not helping themselves in the least when they sperg out over normal people not getting it.
The jobs are only there when they are being built. You don’t need very many people to manage a data center.
In Silicon Valley opposition to Data Centers is growing. One of the key complaints is electrical power usage and increased consumer rates. But if Data Centers are allowed to produce their own power behind the meter, they could actually help reduce electricity rates.
We HAVE to win this race. Period.
But the pushback is real. “They” are trying to build a data center in my rural county. The water table is already low and these campuses are notorious for using huge amounts of water.
They also often get huge tax exemptions and employ a skeleton staff once up and running. Other than the temporary construction jobs, these centers don’t contribute to the local economy.
And they use enormous amounts of electricity. That competition means electricity rates are bound to increase.
Yes, it is an organic, real concern. Water prices, property taxes, turning a quiet little town into another busy city. Lots of things to not like. I moved out here to escape that crap.
Build the data centers in ALREADY ugly, congested big cities and industrial parks. OR do as Musk has suggested: build them in space where it’s cold already. No precious resources exploited. No noise and no spike in electricity prices because they’d be solar powered (or nuclear).
We can do this smartly and win. But if they keep forcing these monster facilities on small communities (that often don’t have the money to fight big companies in court) they are going to piss off more and more Americans who just want to be left alone.
AI data centers are a huge issue here in Indiana. They are going to be built in rural areas, take up more area than a normal city and use up HUGE amounts of water and electricity.
The Indiana GOP Crime Syndicate is making secret deals with the tech companies building these monstrosities and lying about it to the voters.
These data centers will employ huge numbers of foreign workers, but very few (if any) Hoosiers.
The construction of these monstrous facilities will do great damage to the soil and water in the surrounding areas. Home owners will be forced out to make way for AI.
And the politicians are getting PAID big time.
I understand the need to “win” the AI race. I really do. But will “winning” that race be worth the destruction that will cause?
How about the vast increase in government power with ginormous surveillance powers?
How about the “Great Replacement” that will happen when foreign countries send their tech specialists/spies to our counties and they push aside the American Citizens who have lived here all their lives.
The truth is hard to hear, but here it is—the decision has already been made for us by the UniParty Deep State Deciders. It’s a done deal. Most Americans don’t know that yet-but they will.
Lord Jesus come quickly.
But the amazing cat videos!!!!!