GoKawiilAt the G20 Innovation Ministerial summit on Wednesday, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, on stage with Anthropic co-founder and chief compute officer Tom Brown, made a controversial argument: If the world wants to grow AI, we need data centers.
On the surface, this is logical. Data centers are a crucial piece of infrastructure that tech companies need to power their training of new AI models. But the first part of that “if-then” statement is questionable. These massive AI server farms are wildly unpopular, in large part because of serious environmental concerns, energy costs and resource guzzling.
Over the past few years, data center construction projects have been sprouting across the US, with about 3,400 sites already operational and another 2,000 planned, according to Cleanview’s data center tracker tool. The facilities are notorious for demanding massive amounts of electricity to power AI compute, clean water to cool the computer chips and, of course, acreage to build.
Tech companies are quick to claim that data centers create jobs and give back to the tax base. But local residents are footing the bill and have pushed back, saying they bring noise and air pollution and higher utility bills. And the growing opposition is bipartisan: Both Democrats and Republicans (as well as independents) are against new data centers in their area.
That’s why the US government is launching a campaign to persuade other global leaders to promote AI data centers. Will it work?
Rising anti-Big Tech protests
The backlash against AI and Big Tech came right to the G20’s doorstep on Wednesday, as the summit is being held at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. About 100 students and local residents participated in a protest against the in-person and virtual appearances by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Howard Lutnick.
UNC-Chapel Hill students and local residents gathered outside The Carolina Inn where the G20 forum is being held. Katelyn Chedraoui/Jeffrey Hazelwood/CNET
“We as students and community members are showing up because we do not think that tech billionaires should feel comfortable and have a place on our campus,” said Amy, a student and member of UNC’s Sunrise organization that advocates for social and economic justice.
Amy, who did not provide her last name, told me that students have been protesting the addition of over 20 Flock surveillance cameras across campus. Protestors chanted “Hey ho, hey ho, Sam Altman has got to go.” Some signs called out Lutnick’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, while others advocated for tech companies to put people over profits.
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