As Trump publicly warned communities against opposing AI data centers, a group called Build American AI—backed by the PAC Leading the Future—is rolling out a large ad campaign in battleground states like Kansas, Ohio and Wisconsin to build public support for new AI infrastructure. The push comes as an Annenberg Public Policy Center study found 61% of US adults now oppose new data centers near their homes, driven by concerns over rising utility costs, environmental impact and general distrust of AI.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-02
At the G20 Innovation Ministerial in Chapel Hill, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick argued alongside Anthropic's Tom Brown that AI growth requires more data centers, launching a US effort to persuade global leaders to support them. The pitch comes even as roughly 3,400 data centers already operate in the US with 2,000 more planned, drawing bipartisan opposition over energy demands, water use and rising utility costs. The summit itself drew about 100 protesters objecting to appearances by Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Lutnick.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-02
Greenpeace says the rollout of Apple's AI features, including the upcoming Siri overhaul, will strain the company's renewable energy commitments due to the heavy electricity and water demands of large-scale data centers. The environmental group, which has praised Apple's clean energy record for over a decade, says Apple must now prove it can scale AI without abandoning those climate goals.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-09-02
GoPro announced a $285 million merger with optical-photonics firm Starman Optical, aiming to enter the AI infrastructure market through Starman's optical transceiver technology. The camera maker also plans to expand into defense, government, robotics and aerospace sectors while retaining its core action-camera business. The news comes days after YouTuber Markiplier disclosed an 8.5% stake, becoming GoPro's largest individual shareholder.
slashdot.org
· 2026-09-01
SB Energy, a data center infrastructure company backed by SoftBank, Nvidia and OpenAI, has filed for an initial public offering with the SEC. The filing discloses net losses of about $3.2 billion for the first half of 2026 against roughly $139 million in revenue, mostly from its legacy energy business, while none of its planned AI data centers are yet operational.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-01
GoPro announced a merger with optical-photonics company Starman Optical, a deal valued at $285 million that will pay off GoPro's roughly $92 million in outstanding debt. Existing GoPro shareholders will retain about 10 percent ownership of the combined, still publicly traded company, which expects the deal to close by the end of 2026 pending shareholder and regulatory approval. Beyond its camera and subscription business, GoPro plans to expand into optical transceivers for AI infrastructure, along with defense, government, robotics and aerospace markets.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-01
Philip Johnston, co-founder of the orbital data center company Starcloud, has joined other entrepreneurs to announce the 'Fermi Explorer' project, aiming to raise $15 million to build and launch a small spacecraft carrying a 1-kg payload toward Alpha Centauri. The stated goal is to have the probe reach that star system in under 80,000 years, testing assumptions behind the Fermi paradox about why humanity hasn't detected extraterrestrial civilizations.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-01
Build American AI, a new group tied to the super PAC Leading the Future, plans a multimillion-dollar ad campaign in Kansas, Ohio, and Wisconsin to build public support for local data centers. Leading the Future was seeded with over $50 million from investors Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz and OpenAI president Greg Brockman, and has mainly spent that money backing pro-AI candidates and opposing those skeptical of the technology.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-08-31
President Trump used a Truth Social post to criticize local communities resisting new AI data center construction, saying such opposition would leave them 'backwards and poor' compared to areas that welcome the projects. The remarks follow a National Republican Senatorial Committee memo flagging voter backlash over data centers as a political risk ahead of the midterms, particularly in Ohio's tight Senate race.
cnbc.com
· 2026-08-31
President Trump posted on Truth Social criticizing the growing local opposition to AI data center construction across the U.S., arguing that communities rejecting these projects are choosing poverty and stagnation over prosperity. He also claimed that China benefits from the anti-data-center sentiment spreading through American towns and cities.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-08-31
President Trump argued that communities blocking data center construction risk falling into economic decline, framing local resistance as a threat to competitiveness. His remarks come as polling shows most Americans are wary of having such facilities built near their homes.
wsj.com
· 2026-08-31
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged in a Time interview that public sentiment has turned sharply against AI and the data centers powering it. Communities nationwide are protesting roughly $130 billion in data center construction, citing strained water supplies, rising living costs and pollution, forming a bipartisan opposition movement. Altman also revealed he's faced personal threats, including a molotov cocktail thrown at his home and a shooting, linked to anti-AI safety activism.
futurism.com
· 2026-08-31
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