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In an interview with Michael Cohen, President Trump dismissed community opposition to new data centers as a mistake, arguing they bring jobs and no longer strain power grids since companies now build their own power plants under the Ratepayer Protection Pledge. He framed the buildout as essential to keeping US AI leadership ahead of China.
A daily tech digest covers a wave of regulatory and political pushback: both US parties are souring on AI data centers ahead of midterms, Dutch regulators fined Uber nearly $1 billion for automatically deactivating drivers without human review, and TikTok agreed to pay $400 million to settle a US case over collecting children's data. Separately, New Zealand is moving to ban under-16s from social media and Chinese humanoid robots reportedly broke Usain Bolt's 100-meter record at a robotics competition.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott told ABC that AI companies have caused their own backlash by building data centers without coordinating with state or local governments. This marks a sharp reversal from just months ago, when Abbott championed Texas as the 'epicenter of AI development' and celebrated a $40 billion Google investment tied to tax breaks. Abbott recently imposed a moratorium on new data center projects, citing strain on the state's power grid.
South Korea's government-backed startup support platform, Modu-ui Changup, suffered a data breach that exposed personal information and startup idea summaries of roughly 5,000 successful applicants. Investigators from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, National Intelligence Service, Cyber Security Center and National Police Agency traced the root cause to an encryption key that had been embedded in an API response, allowing an outside party to harvest it via web crawling and decrypt supposedly protected data.
The Dutch Data Protection Authority fined Uber roughly $966 million after finding that between 2018 and 2022 the company suspended European drivers using automated systems without meaningful human review, violating GDPR's Article 22 protections against purely automated decisions with significant consequences. The case stemmed from a 2020 complaint filed with France's CNIL by La Ligue des droits de l'Homme on behalf of over 170 drivers, and was handled by Dutch authorities since Uber's main EU base is in Amsterdam. Uber plans to appeal, arguing that fraud suspensions were brief, permanent deactivations always involved human review, and drivers had appeal options.
A satellite-based analysis led by Xiao-Peng Song and Matthew Hansen at the University of Maryland found that global tree cover increased by roughly 2.24 million square kilometers, an area comparable to Texas and Alaska combined, between 1982 and 2016. The gains, concentrated in temperate, boreal, and subtropical zones, offset major losses in tropical forests caused by deforestation, fire, and drought.
The Dutch Data Protection Authority has fined Uber roughly $966 million for deactivating driver accounts through automated systems without adequate human review or warning, marking one of the largest penalties issued under GDPR. The investigation stemmed from complaints, including one from former French Uber driver Brahim Ben Ali, who gathered testimony from 170 other drivers alleging similar treatment. Uber disputes the regulator's findings and plans to appeal the fine.
Microsoft ended free premium Office licenses for smaller nonprofits worldwide, and many organizations discovered their stored data—including Word, Excel, and OneDrive files—had been permanently deleted without adequate warning. Ronald Khosla, who runs the environmental venture fund Canopy, says he was told by Microsoft support that his data could be recovered, only to later learn it was gone for good.
Reports highlight mounting concern among investors about the sustainability of massive AI data-center buildouts, alongside scrutiny of OpenAI's financial position. Analysts point to roughly $3 trillion in AI-related debt that sits off company balance sheets, raising questions about how these commitments are being tracked and financed.
A poem titled 'Safe Distance' uses imagery of undersea fiber optic cables, packet transmission, and network latency to depict a long-distance relationship mediated by technology. The piece frames digital communication as both a bridge and a barrier, with signals, nodes, and handshakes standing in for human touch and vulnerability.
Local officials overseeing data center projects in Marshall, Michigan, Salix, Iowa, and Box Elder County, Utah, have reported credible death threats and safety concerns tied to their votes. Marshall's council faced threats after passing a building moratorium, Salix's leaders were threatened over a land annexation for a possible Google site, and a Utah commissioner now has police stationed at his home. NBC News reports this pattern is spreading nationally, with officials targeted regardless of how they vote on data center proposals.
Ed Brady, CEO of the Home Builders Institute, says the rush to build AI data centers is pulling scarce skilled tradespeople away from residential construction. He notes the US already faces a shortage of roughly 300,000 skilled trades workers, and many of those still available are opting for data center jobs instead of homebuilding.