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The European Commission has proposed requiring data centers with over 500 kW capacity to disclose their energy and water usage through a standardized rating system, similar to appliance energy labels. The rules would not cap power or water consumption but would require operators to report water use relative to local water stress and disclose whether they recycle waste heat back into local energy systems.
Amazon has launched a Colorado River Basin Collaborative, committing $20 million of its own money and aiming to raise $100 million total over two years for conservation projects along the drought-stricken river, which supplies water to 40 million people across seven US states and parts of Mexico. Part of the funding includes $2.2 million for leak detection in Orange County, California, projected to save 189 million gallons annually.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of seven bills that shield residential utility customers from bearing the costs of AI data center growth. The laws create a new rate category for data centers through the state's Public Utilities Commission, mandate disclosure of water and energy use to local governments, and require efficiency benchmarks before facilities can get streamlined approval.
President Trump said he will soon name an AI tsar and establish an 'AI Force,' framing artificial intelligence as a transformative economic force that could account for up to a quarter of US GDP. He dismissed growing warnings from industry figures about losing control over the technology, along with backlash over data centers, calling them politically motivated 'hoaxes' rather than legitimate concerns requiring regulation.
Bloomberg reports that Wall Street investors are increasingly worried the AI industry's financial structure is a precarious 'house of cards,' built on massive capital expenditures and debt tied to data center buildouts. Analysts note AI-related spending now accounts for roughly half of US GDP growth, meaning any slowdown could trigger a financial shock comparable to the dot-com crash.
Conservative activists like Molly McCann Sanders of the Eagle Forum are publicly rejecting Trump's pro-data-center stance, citing pollution and land-use fears. Polling from the New York Times shows over 60% of Americans, including nearly half of Republicans, oppose new data center construction, and GOP strategists have warned in internal memos that supporting AI infrastructure could hurt candidates in the midterms.
Data center technicians spend their shifts walking miles of server rows, sniffing for burning smells, and checking equipment for damage—including from birds—as they keep facilities powering the AI build-out running smoothly. The work combines physical inspection routines with constant vigilance for small warning signs that could signal bigger equipment failures.
President Trump posted on Truth Social suggesting AI be rebranded with a term like 'Superior,' 'Extreme,' or 'Supreme Intelligence,' running a poll for followers to choose. He also claimed that growing public concern over AI and data centers is a manufactured Democratic hoax akin to past controversies like Russia investigations and impeachment efforts, vowing not to let opposition to AI succeed.
A group of roughly 10 people vandalized the Montreal offices of Quebec's AI research institute MILA and a nearby AI company this week, smashing windows and spray-painting slogans including "burn the data centers." Montreal police confirmed the coordinated attack and briefly detained a 25-year-old woman found near the scene before releasing her without charges.
The U.S. House approved H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which amends the 1978 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act to require state regulators and non-regulated utilities to consider adopting a federal standard within two years. Under the bill, data centers drawing 100 megawatts or more would have to cover the full incremental cost of generation, transmission, or distribution upgrades built to serve them, even if they later cancel their power contracts.
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger issued Executive Order 22, barring executive branch officials from signing NDAs on data center projects, mandating faster noise regulations, and reviewing backup power operations. The order also launches an AI task force to study risks like job losses and privacy harms, alongside a new state framework aimed at ending automatic zoning approvals and rolling back subsidies for data center developers.
Creative studio Basura teamed up with producer Alan Wilkis's project Big Data to launch 'Adopt a Data Center,' a stuffed toy called Bezzy shaped like a server rack with googly eyes and limbs. Squeezing the plushie plays an actual recording of the piercing hum captured by a neighbor near a Virginia data center, timed to release alongside a new Big Data single.