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The public opposition to artificial intelligence and data centers was front and center at the Goldman Sachs Communcacopia + Technology Conference. CoreWeave CEO Mike Intrator told CNBC's David Faber that companies haven't explained the technology's benefits well enough to the public. "I don't think we have done a particularly good job of talking about the benefits of what the data centers allow the AI companies to be able to deliver to people, to governments, to decision making," Intrator said in comments that aired Wednesday. The annual conference brings together leaders across the biggest tech and media companies, and AI adoption — along with the pushback many local communities are showing towards its buildout — is perhaps one of the biggest opportunities, and risks, facing businesses of every kind. Intrator insisted that the fear around the transformation isn't about data centers, specifically, but is about how fast things are changing. "It is really about: Hey, you know the world is changing, and it's changing very quickly, and that's going to have impacts on myself. It's going to have impacts on my children, and what is that going to look like? And that is frightening," he added. Visa CEO Ryan McInerney said he's noticed consumers' distrust in AI in agentic commerce, and that the new method is developing "a little more slowly than we thought." "When you ask consumers, do they trust these agentic platforms to go out and make payments on their behalf, the short answer is they don't," McInerney said.
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As Goldman's conference got underway, another set of comments in the tech world caught attention as an AI researcher quit his job at Anthropic Tuesday, warning the rapidly-evolving technology "could kill us all by the end of the decade." Jacob Coxon, who worked at both Anthropic and its chief competitor OpenAI , accused the companies of "gambling with our lives" in the race towards AI superintelligence. "Do not underestimate the power of this technology. These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources. We have all witnessed the progress in each of these domains, and progress is not slowing," Coxon wrote in a post on X announcing his resignation. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz, when asked about Coxon's comments, told Faber that AI "can be used for good or for bad." "We see it as an opportunity, and given the power of the technology, it should be harnessed, and that's part of what we want to do: Harness it in a safe way," Kurtz said.
Cable companies talk broadband pressure
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Other disruptions were on the agenda as well on Wednesday, as cable executives continued to forecast competitive pressure on the broadband business.
Both Comcast and Charter Communications have seen quarterly broadband customer losses in recent years due to the rise of alternatives, namely fixed wireless, or 5G, providers.
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