GoKawiil
Tech News
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to stop issuing data center-related permits until ERCOT finishes auditing the state's grid connection waitlist. This broadens an August moratorium that had already paused new grid approvals for data centers, extending the freeze into environmental sign-offs needed for construction.
X reported identifying roughly 200 accounts tied to China that it says were amplifying anti-data center rhetoric on the platform, sparking coverage framing local opposition as foreign manipulation. President Trump quickly echoed the claim on Truth Social, suggesting China benefits from the backlash against US data center construction, even as public polling shows growing domestic opposition to these projects regardless of any outside influence.
Following Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's move to remove Flock license plate readers from state roads, sheriff's offices in several Florida counties followed suit. Dallas police shut down over 300 Flock cameras after Governor Greg Abbott cut state funding, while a dozen Wisconsin agencies suspended their contracts, joining cities like Appleton, Oshkosh and Kenosha that had already dropped Flock.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has frozen further state spending on Flock's AI-powered license plate cameras, a decision made shortly before a Texas Tribune investigation exposed that the state had already spent over $30 million on the technology. That funding came largely from a $1 fee added to insurance policies, ostensibly to combat catalytic converter theft.
A $1 auto insurance fee approved by Texas lawmakers in 2023 to fight catalytic converter theft has instead financed a massive expansion of Flock license-plate cameras across the state. The Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority, chaired by Laredo Police Chief Miguel Rodriguez, has issued 95 grants and partnered with the Department of Public Safety to fund roughly 3,200 cameras, with hundreds more planned along tollways. Following inquiries from The Texas Tribune, Gov. Greg Abbott's office announced it is pausing state funding for local Flock camera grants.
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.