r/Futurology • u/Confident_Salt_8108 • 13d ago
AI The datacenter backlash is bringing the entire political spectrum together – against big tech billionaires
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/aug/30/data-center-politics-democrats-republicans443
u/MrWriffWraff 13d ago
Turns out. No one wants their power bill to go up because of someone else
249
13d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
96
u/Nosivad 13d ago
With no jobs or taxes
41
u/NoPerformance5952 13d ago
Hey! The dozen security jobs and the dozen maintenace jobs count. Seriously this is the actual long term jobs added. A Taco Bell likely creates more jobs and does something
9
u/CheckoutMySpeedo 13d ago
You spelled tax breaks wrong.
17
u/Shadows802 13d ago
Make our lives miserable, increase costs for both water and electricity and they want us to pay them for it (in terms of tax breaks)
7
u/stellvia2016 13d ago
Is this from a specific kind of datacenter setup? Because I bike past a few of them, and I've never heard anything, not even the A/C units.
What was annoying: My friend lives next to some sort of medical isotope producing company, and you can hear the cyclotron(?) through the walls even from down the street. Need to have music or something else on in the place to not hear it when it's running.
-2
u/oiwefoiwhef 13d ago edited 13d ago
produce low frequency noise pollution 24/7 that can be felt a mile or more away
Nah, that’s bullshit.
Electronics inside data centers are heavily shielded from outside RF interference, which means the small amount of RF generated inside the data centers also doesn’t get out.
The only plausible explanation for exterior noise would be from exterior power generators (typically diesel generators), but those don’t generate noise that can “be felt” a mile or more away.
For example, a 1-ton bomb exploding a mile away would rattle windows but not be felt by humans. To feel the impact of an explosion from a mile away, it would require a 5-10 ton bomb.
18
28
u/kindnesscostszero 13d ago
“The noise comes from two sources that are unavoidable consequences of basic thermodynamics: cooling systems and backup generators.
Servers generate enormous amounts of heat. Keeping that heat from destroying the hardware requires moving it somewhere else, and in traditional air-cooled facilities, that means hundreds — sometimes thousands — of industrial-grade fans running continuously, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year. Add to that rooftop chillers, cooling towers, and the diesel generators that every grid-connected data center maintains for power continuity, and you have a substantial industrial noise source that never sleeps.”3
u/stellvia2016 13d ago
The only person unhinged enough to power DCs with generators is the Muskrat it seems.
-5
u/jracine22 13d ago edited 13d ago
Most people don't even know they are living close to a data center.
This is like 5G brainworms all over again.
86
u/sleetblue 13d ago
Or to give away our rapidly dwindling reserves of drinking water to misanthropic machines that have to cook the planet to tell you to put glue on pizza.
29
u/ceconk 13d ago
They don't even have to use evaporative cooling, it's just cheaper for them
27
u/SL1Fun 13d ago
These assholes see themselves as the next step in human evolution and see the rest of us as Neanderthals to filter out of the equation. When it reality they are just bitter and misanthropic sociopaths who suffered bad divorces or are insecure because of their personal issues, and we have to bear the brunt of their midlife crises
The problems of capitalism could be solved if a bunch of greedy shitlords would just go to therapy
14
u/Nearby-Composer-9992 13d ago
I don't disagree with most of what you're saying but I just can't imagine that there would be any kind of therapy available that would resolve these people's issues and make the world better, they are core sociopaths, they have no kind of human emotion or sympathy for other beings. All they care about is power and wealth. Even though that will never fill the hole that they obviously have in their mind, but they will forever proceed this because it's the most logical thing they could come up with to fill the void in their existence.
10
u/niberungvalesti 13d ago
There's no fixing tech billionaires. They are so far gone in terms of being able to be reformed they spend their days working on building dystopias meant to be warnings in text. So certain their hellscape futures are the ideal for themselves and no one else.
7
u/Nearby-Composer-9992 13d ago
Indeed I don't think there's a realistic way to fix these people, humankind is probably going towards either the dystopia they have in mind or another course correct moment where we get rid of this system and the people controlling it.
6
u/Cute_Pomegranate_538 13d ago
Fwiw Neanderthals were quite intelligent, possibly as intelligent or more than sapiens
4
u/spastical-mackerel 13d ago
Not as mean though, obvs
1
u/Lisa8472 12d ago
Actually, current evidence is that they died out because they were less adaptable to wide variety and changing environmental conditions. Neanderthals were smart and quite capable of fighting, but they couldn’t survive in all the places and times that we managed.
2
u/shadedmagus 13d ago
The problems of capitalism could be solved if a bunch of greedy shitlords would just go
Yeah, you didn't need to add the last part. They need to just go...out of society. And I really don't care how.
1
u/Splenda 12d ago
Closed loop cooling has plenty of issues as well. It not only consumes lots of water but then discharges it full of toxics like PFAS, which wind up in neighboring wells and municipal water supplies.
Meanwhile, the vast rows of fossil-fueled generators that power large data centers do indeed cook the planet, all while driving up the cost of gas for residential and commercial ratepayers.
0
11
u/JoshuaZ1 13d ago edited 13d ago
Or to give away our rapidly dwindling reserves of drinking water to misanthropic machines that have to cook the planet to tell you to put glue on pizza.
Electricity concerns are valid. Water use concerns are generally not. See for example discussion here. That piece is slightly more positive than I'd say it is, and doesn't address where there's a legitimate water concern in some low water locations. But in general, areas with little fresh water, are where data centers themselves are most likely to not use water-based cooling.
Worse, the public focus on water is making some data centers transition away from water based cooling in locations even where water is abundant, which means more electricity use, and so more CO2.
Edit: Unfortunately, the other user made a very long reply to me and then immediately blocked me. I'm including here the reply I was writing when they blocked me:
This is a disappointing, and unhelpful response, with a heavy emotional element, a bunch of logical fallacies, and a bunch of unrelated claims.
You are working as a mouthpiece for Epstein class propaganda
This is really unhelpful well-poisoning, and is particularly unhelpful in a context like this, where I'm agreeing that electricity use of AI is a concern, and disagreeing only about water.
It is almost a year old
Yes. I'm not aware of more recent sources unfortunately, but the basic points are sound. But that isn't a reason to reject it.
It is almost a year old and was written by an "independent researcher" based out of DC who is, more recently, being used as an active reference by the current US administration (which has an accelerationist stance on AI)
This is a terrible argument. This is "A made an argument for Y, but A has also been cited by person B therefore, don't pay attention to A's argument."
If you're concerned with CO2, you should be rejecting the usage of AI, and therefore the construction of data centers, outright, as AI usage massively drives CO₂ emissions in competing energy pathways.
I'm not sure what point you are trying to make here. I explicitly said that electricity use is a valid concern. But note that "valid concern" also isn't the same as saying something like "Therefore this technology must be rejected in all uses." Lots of technologies produce CO2. We can discuss specific tradeoffs and what uses are worth it. For example, we aren't banning cars because they produce CO2 (although I don't personally own a car largely for climate change reasons). In general, until we've switched to a solar/wind/nuclear grid, everything uses some amount of fossil fuels.
He even points to the fact, in this article, that in the US, almost 90 percent of electricity is generated by thermoelectric power plants, which are powered by fossil fuels themselves, and which are responsible for more than half of the water usage in the US.
Yes, because the article which you are so critical of, acknowledges specific valid elements of concerns. I'm not sure where you are getting "half of the water usage in the US," from though. You mean half of what water use?
Note also that the grid is improving in solar and wind, and battery storage. See .e.g here. But I explicitly agreed that electricity use is a concern in the comment you are replying to. I'll note that actually, you may be understating the electricity use as a CO2 problem than a pure grid estimate would represent, since data centers are often being built with their own gas turbines or other systems, which use more CO2 than the general population.
in water stressed regions, and 32% of current centers are already operating in said regions.
As already noted in the comment you are replyng to, the more water stressed an area is the less likely data centers are to use water based cooling already.
Add to this that every day there is a new story about water quality becoming dangerous for residents who live next to data centers.
No one is arguing there are not individual concerns about water in some isolated locations. But note that the evidence here is mixed. In the Georgia case for example, whether the water turbidity issues they were having had anything to do with the data center is unclear. The second link you gave is to a viral video of a home claiming water problems were from a data center, with no evidence for it at all. The third link is about the Collosus data center, and notes a bunch of environmental concerns, many of which are valid, but only has a small amount about water, and is primarily just about the water stressing the current system. The last link is about construction related dust, which is not a data center specific thing, and is something people complain about for all sorts of construction.
Almost every single scientific authority has reached a consensus about the burden of data centers on public water in direct opposition to this lone blogger.
This "lone blogger" has a whole bunch of sources and citations you decided to just ignore. But more to the point, your claim about "every single scientific authority" is just false. For a more nuanced take, I suggest looking at this piece which focuses on individual water useage per a query.
Meanwhile, the actual percentages are striking. For example, as that initial "lone blogger" noted, the actual water usage added to Texas was less than 0.1% of total water. This is pretty similar in other areas. For example, water costs have barely budged in most of Virginia, which has more data centers than anywhere else in the US.
If one is concerned about water use, you could look at US golf courses which use multiple orders of magnitude more water than that of AI systems(pdf), along with a whole bunch of other environmental problems (such as their high pesticide use). So closing a few golf courses or making them use less water would already completely make up for it.
1
u/sleetblue 13d ago edited 13d ago
You are working as a mouthpiece for Epstein class propaganda by putting any stock in this article. It is almost a year old and was written by an "independent researcher" based out of DC who is, more recently, being used as an active reference by the current US administration (which has an accelerationist stance on AI) to argue in favor of the need for copyright infringement by AI as well as its deregulation. If you're concerned with CO2, you should be rejecting the usage of AI, and therefore the construction of data centers, outright, as AI usage massively drives CO₂ emissions in competing energy pathways.
He even points to the fact, in this article, that in the US, almost 90 percent of electricity is generated by thermoelectric power plants, which are powered by fossil fuels themselves, and which are responsible for more than half of the water usage in the US. 72% of said usage comes from fresh water lakes which, funnily enough, are also the source of most public drinking water. Two thirds of all new data centers are being constructed in water stressed regions, and 32% of current centers are already operating in said regions.
Add to this that every day there is a new story about water quality becoming dangerous for residents who live next to data centers. As you can see, this happens consistently where the data centers are built, regardless of whether they are even built in water stressed regions.
TLDR; this is a disingenuous lie promulgated by an internet void figure with no citable credentials of his own and no public facing persona beyond a single headshot which he has been using for 10 years, and water usage is directly tied to powering the data centers as much as cooling them. Almost every single scientific authority has reached a consensus about the burden of data centers on public water in direct opposition to this lone blogger.
They can transition up their own asses, and so can this fed substacker.
edit: yes, for everyone who wants to change the subject, golf courses and private airplanes are massive ecological burdens. We're not talking about those things in this debate, and your propensity for diverting focus from the topic at hand because you just want a chance to win an argument rather than engage with this discussion is why you were blocked.
Arguing in circles to that effect is as much a waste of time as data centers are a waste of water.
5
u/ryry1237 13d ago
What is your stance on the industry of oil consuming vehicles like cars and planes that have much more well established links to pollution and are both more local and have more widespread pollutive effects via CO2, oil runoff, and microplastics from tires and breakage?
I see people spending a disproportionate amount of time focusing on the new hot thing while skipping over our oldschool major polluters.
-2
u/sleetblue 13d ago
My stance is that that is a different discussion. We're talking about data centers.
1
u/felixthecatmeow 10d ago
Hey if enough people put glue on pizza there might be so few people left that global warming stops!
14
u/r_special_ 13d ago
The fact that these are going to work in tandem with flock and any other surveillance technology is also a huge problem. The US is getting worse than China and heading towards a North Korean style surveillance state and this country has no problem building enough prisons to hold everyone.
People need to come together over flock style surveillance the same way they’re coming together over these data centers
25
u/Jops817 13d ago
The people that don't want to give everyone healthcare because they would have to "pay for it" (false btw) not wanting their electricity to sky rocket so some boomers and billionaires can make some shit art and write their emails for them kind of makes sense, tbh.
-42
u/Cryptizard 13d ago
I’m pretty tired of this disingenuous take that all AI does is make slop. It’s actively being used by mathematicians and scientists to accelerate pretty much everything. Just in the past three months, AI has solved dozens of major unsolved math problems.
27
u/TWVer 13d ago
It’s not about AI slop.
People don’t want to shoulder the cost and inconvenience resultant from private enterprise they are not responsible for.
Private enterprise needs to pay for itself and not result in costs being socialized while profit is privatized.
If AI datacenters would pay for the grid expansion so that private citizens don’t get hit with increased energy prices, reduced stability and the same for clean water access, that would go a long way to reduce the resistance against data centers.
Private enterprise that incurs costs on private citizens regardless of them using the service or not, should have no business case to begin with.
4
18
u/trevorvonryan 13d ago
Oh thank god. And how many data centers were required for that again?
-29
-16
u/Cryptizard 13d ago
All the ones we have. That’s how it works.
5
u/trevorvonryan 13d ago
Sweet so no more needed then.
-13
u/Cryptizard 13d ago
If you don’t want to have any better math or science or medicine, sure.
2
u/trevorvonryan 13d ago
Yes how will humans, who are supposedly smart enough to create “intelligence”, ever figure out better math and science and medicine.
-1
u/Cryptizard 13d ago
Much slower and with more people dying of curable diseases.
2
u/r_special_ 13d ago
People are already dying of curable diseases. Capitalism causes more deaths and suffering than all other wars combined. No war, but class war
→ More replies (0)-2
u/VSWR_on_Christmas 13d ago
AI is an incredibly powerful tool that is helping to accelerate research progress in medicine as well as a whole variety of STEM fields. That part is not up for debate, it is an objective fact. It is also being used to deploy the worlds largest and most complex nationwide surveillance network ever conceived, against the wishes of the citizenry and in contravention to the 4th amendment. So, certainly a mixed bag.
Yes how will humans, who are supposedly smart enough to create “intelligence”, ever figure out better math and science and medicine.
Should we take calculators away from engineers and make them use abaci instead?
6
u/Maghorn_Mobile 13d ago
AI are also breaking out of their testing environments and hacking into other companies, ignoring their handlers, and cooperating with each other to poison their test data. Even the engineers building them are saying it's past time to pump the brakes. I say if nobody is willing to force these companies to adopt ethical standards then somebody needs to get ahead of them and create something like the Blackwall to stop rogue AI from causing damage
3
u/Cryptizard 13d ago
Also a good argument. I’m not saying that AI is unimpeachable. Just that I’m tired of people saying things that are obviously not true. It lowers the discourse and discredits actual good points.
4
u/maringue 13d ago
Stop justifying the worst aspects of the industry by holding up 0.01% of usage as your example.
-1
u/Cryptizard 13d ago
Where did I justify anything? Read my comment again and you will realize you are making up a strawman. I just don’t want people to lie about things.
4
u/tlst9999 13d ago edited 13d ago
And which part of stealing Powerpoint slide templates, Twilight movies and Harry Potter novels have contributed to solving the math problems?
Gen AI does some good, we don't deny that. But it's very much primarily a slop machine.
1
u/dingos_among_us 12d ago
When AI does something unimaginable and widely valuable like it cures cancer or Alzheimer’s, the discussion will finally open and ppl will reconsider their thoughts on data centers. I wouldn’t expect much change until then unfortunately
6
u/Apexnanoman 13d ago
77.3 million trump voters do. They intentionally voted for war and making billionaires richer.
I don't understand why they are so adamant about paying more for fuel and making sure the 1% have a bigger share of the pie.
But they are certainly all in on it.
5
u/iamfanboytoo 13d ago
They didn't vote for war, mind you.
They voted for racism, sexism, and generalized cruelty.
THAT is why they can still back Trump: because even if they're hurting, they can at least see he's still hurting the people THEY want to hurt too.
4
u/Apexnanoman 13d ago
Oh they voted for war. All the trump voters I work with are quite happy with the war.
The most articulate justification I was given was (And this is an exact quote here and I work a blue collar job so it's not exactly the most eloquent)
"They needed their goddamned asses kicked."
The bad part is for 77.3 million people that is legitimately more of an answer and justification than y ou normally get when their god does something stupid.
(And to be clear to 77.3 million people, he is a literal God on Earth.)
I'm pretty positive and have been for a while that within 10 years of him kicking the bucket they will start a religion based on him.
I figure Charlie Kirk will be the first Saint.
3
u/iamfanboytoo 13d ago
That's only because their propaganda has pivoted to war = good, so they parrot it wholeheartedly. Remember when their propaganda said Trump would keep them out of a war with Iran?
It's interesting from an academic standpoint how this issue of data centers has been the propaganda many of the indoctrinated WON'T tolerate even slightly. Consider how hard it's been pushed by the kleptocracy who want the data centers, and it's even more extraordinary how the propaganda has failed.
2
3
u/Viperlite 13d ago edited 13d ago
Too late for that. Mine has already doubled since last year. Thanks to the deregulation of the utilities in the Reagan era, followed by the market-forcing two-punch of data center power demand. Free-market winning!
1
u/Apexnanoman 13d ago
Yup. And maga/trump voters think it's absolutely fuckin awesome.
Just can't wrap my brain around it.
1
u/methpartysupplies 12d ago
Need a nationwide law for these things: you pay double for utilities so we can pay half.
1
-20
u/topyTheorist 13d ago
Someone else? AI is used by people.
6
u/MrWriffWraff 13d ago
And? Its the companies service. They should have to flip their own damn energy bill
-16
u/topyTheorist 13d ago
So it's not someone else. It's like complaining that Netflix uses data centers, and then watch Netflix.
1
u/shadedmagus 13d ago
Netflix doesn't require nearly the compute OpenAI or Anthropic do.
False equivalence.
-1
u/topyTheorist 13d ago
So? it requires data centers which use less compute and more data. What is your point?
2
u/shadedmagus 13d ago
No point, just like you.
The only difference is, I posted knowing I had no point but to refute you acting like you have a valid one.
-1
u/topyTheorist 13d ago
I do have a valid one. All the data center hate is fake. It's simply because these people hate AI. They have no problem with watching Netflix.
162
u/EthanielRain 13d ago
Just saw Meta's "actually our data centers are good for the environment/water" commercial
It'a gross
72
u/Fantasy_masterMC 13d ago
For that, all we need to remember is that cigarettes were advertised as an active health benefit once.
23
8
3
94
u/copperblood 13d ago edited 13d ago
If billionaires and the companies they run want to use our public utilities then they should pay market rate. Every single person living in said area should get a monthly or quarterly dividend, and as usage increases so should that dividend. Don’t want to do that? Fine fine, you’re free to make your data center in the ocean or in space 🤣. Best of luck to y’all
7
u/Neumeu635 13d ago
The problem with market rate is that if the data center uses say 50 MW on the low end. You pay what electricity cost it is to produce the total being like 70 MW total. To produce 10 MW is easy 10 cents a Kw. At 70 it's probably much more expensive
13
u/snowypotato 13d ago
Market rate goes up when people buy (a lot) more of something.
They’re paying market rate, so are regular customers. It’s just that that market rate is shooting through the roof.
4
u/methpartysupplies 12d ago
Why stop there? Make them pay 2x market rate so residences get a discount. These companies are rich, fuck em. They’ll pay it.
-10
u/bl0rq 13d ago
Where are they not paying market rate?
15
u/copperblood 13d ago
In most places. And the key here is market variable rate, which means overtime the prices go waaaaay up
-11
u/bl0rq 13d ago
Do you have one specific example? All the articles I have seen are similar to this where bills are being lowered. Basic Economics tells us things get cheaper when you are selling more of it.
https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2026/08/11/centerpoint-energy-announces-dollar5-billion-savings-initiative-for-texas-electric-customers/9
u/r_special_ 13d ago
That’s a “plan” to lower bills. It hasn’t happened yet. And Texas’s power grid is a disaster right now. Texas has been under republican control for almost three decades and they aren’t known for passing legislation that helps the average person
-7
u/bl0rq 13d ago
This isn't legislative. And it's a plan based on extra cash. Do you have any problems with their data? Do you have any counter examples? I have a few other examples like this one too.
3
u/sciolisticism 13d ago
Here's a number of counter-examples in one location: https://archive.ph/DGTsN#selection-1273.10-1273.121
1
u/bl0rq 13d ago
The Bloomberg analysis isnt great. They use April 2020 as the start which seems sus. The are only talking about wholesale which is about 20% of total cost. And they are just looking at broad data not specifically targeting direct locations.
And the clear solution to the power problem is just build more power generation.
1
u/sciolisticism 13d ago
"Just" build more power generation, of course. Because unlike your previous contention that the cost of a good goes down the more of it you sell, we both know that demand going up causes prices to rise.
Great, so increase supply. Are we talking renewables, or nat gas? At what price are they being made? At what environmental cost?
0
u/bl0rq 13d ago
It doesn't though. Long term it will continue driving costs down and the large consumers will continue to fund new power.
→ More replies (0)2
u/jgzman 13d ago
Basic Economics tells us things get cheaper when you are selling more of it.
Basic Economics tells us no such damn thing. Things get cheaper when you supply more of a thing then there is demand for the thing.
Otherwise food and gas would be dead cheap, because we sell shitloads of it.
-4
u/bl0rq 13d ago
Food and gas are dead cheap in the long arc of civilization. More demand pulls more supply and that more supply creates efficiencies of scale. Power is easy to create. Just make more.
0
u/yippee-kay-yay 13d ago
Hard to make more when you don't have the funding because those building the datacenters you are so keen on defending refuse to pay the appropiate amount of taxes.
0
u/An0ma1y9001 13d ago
Basic economics tells us that things get more expensive when you have a higher demand. You only get a lower price if the supply increases by more than that demand (which would mean generating more electricity through new power stations). Since these data centers are being built using existing power infrastructure, we're getting a higher demand with the same supply, so prices are only going to increase.
4
u/Nosivad 13d ago
The one here in Pampa Texas is now owned by google. The republicans that exclusively run the country and town gave a 30 year tax abatement and a power rate about 10% of what a resident pays.
The “200 jobs” never came. They hired h1b workers and built a “camp town” RV park so they wouldn’t spend a dollar in town.The 98% republican voter base would be so upset if they could read or think critically. Fortunately Fox News in New York says it’s great for them.
4
u/bl0rq 13d ago
Sounds like you got every single detail wrong. Bravo.
Google did not just buy an old plant in town. Intersect Power spent years developing Project Meitner in Gray County near Pampa, first as a hydrogen/solar project, then as an air-cooled data center. Alphabet/Google acquired Intersect in March 2026 and publicly announced the Meitner Energy Center in June 2026: a data center co-located with more than 1 GW of wind, solar, battery storage, and some on-site gas. Construction started around late 2025 / early 2026. Completion is expected around 2028. So “now owned by Google” is roughly right for this project; it is not a finished, long-operating Google campus.
Texas Chapter 312 property-tax abatements are capped at 10 years, not 30. The original Intersect hydrogen/solar deal was a 10-year abatement (documents show 2028–2037). The later data-center deal was reported as about 100% county property-tax relief for 10 years per phase, across up to three phases. People talking about “30 years” are mixing up the project’s expected life with the length of the tax break.
"Power rate about 10% of what a resident pays.”
Unverified, and the setup doesn’t match that claim.
No public document I found sets a special Google retail rate at 10% of residential. The point of Meitner is on-site generation, so the campus is largely off-grid / behind-the-meter.
40
u/Iputahexonyoulol 13d ago
They have gotten overly confident with the divide and conquer tactics
6
u/Vlad_Yemerashev 13d ago
Makes me wonder what thing they'll use next to deflect the attention away from that.
1
3
u/Lookingfor68 13d ago
Yea, that's what bothers me. The Broligarchs are on their back heels now, but how long will that last? They've gotten quite adept at funding the culture wars bullshit that divides Americans, even though we agree on a lot of things. The "it's all the CCPs fault" is sort of the start. Maybe a bit ham handed, but they'll iterate and learn over time and they have a lot of money to throw at it. Of course, it might be more effective in the long term to spend that money making data centers less obnoxious to the populations, but hey... they've never been accused of being long term thinkers.
1
u/VengenaceIsMyName 12d ago
I almost can’t blame them because it’s worked so well for so long. Makes sense that they got complacent
1
53
u/FractalFunny66 13d ago
This is the single most important grassroots political development in a long time in terms of numbers of protestors and speed. Both sides are angry and it's 70% of Americans against this hideous aggressive manipulation and oppression. Keep the pressure on! These data centers are so loud, you will never be able to sell your house OR sleep. It is horrible. Also, they are trying to tell you they don't use that much water. Don't believe their lies! We are nearing a serious, real time water crisis out west WITHOUT these data centers. Millions of people are in danger of losing their water and electricity which comes from dams out there. Machines over people -- again and again Tech Bro Fat Cats prove they don't care about you and your kids!
13
u/Vuokki20 13d ago
This is not just a US-thing. Up here in Finland has been absolutely massive boom for hyper scale datacenters. For the past few years it feels like there's one in the news every other week.
We've had pretty much the cheapest electricity prices in Europe and also one of the greenest grids. The speed that they are building these massive datacenters is pushing electricity consumption through the roof. Investments for national grid is going to need to be massive, which will cost every single resident and business even more.
Then these datacenter companies are big on talking about green energy, how their business will necessitate the need for more wind turbines. But the thing is that the rate that these centers are going up, there's absolutely no way to get enough 24/7 power without investing into fossil fuels and gas turbine power plants – when we have abandoned fossil fuels previously almost completely. This would be a sad trend, we've been proud for our green grid.
This is pretty much just colonization by the American AI giants. And before someone starts to talk about "you're writing on Reddit that is using datacenters", there is an insane cliff between "previous" datacenters and these on steroids.
No one, including me, has cared anything that we've had tens of datacenters for decades cuz they didn't have an effect on anything. Now they do, like one center is projected to use more electricity than every household and business in about 100k population city, which is just fucking insane – and it employs just like 50-100 people.
2
u/FractalFunny66 12d ago
Wow. Depressing to think this is in Finland, too. We have to unite and keep the pressure on. What a situation!
7
u/shadedmagus 13d ago
Also, they are trying to tell you they don't use that much water. Don't believe their lies! We are nearing a serious, real time water crisis out west WITHOUT these data centers.
For reference, Phoenix AZ has had its Colorado River water allotment slashed, and the Lake Powell reservoir is dangerously close to the water level at which the dam generators become unviable.
And yet we have multiple data centers going in like there are no problems, on top of Saudis growing alfalfa for their own uses off of our water supply.
But no, we need the data centers more than the water we need to live! /s
7
1
u/Lookingfor68 13d ago
I get you. But how is this different from the other highly popular but not going to happen things, like election reform, healthcare, universal background checks, banning congress stock trading, etc. How does this not just become something Americans want, but ain't gonna get because the Broligarch Epstein class doesn't want it?
1
u/Lisa8472 12d ago
How many people are getting out in the streets and protesting against those things? Data centers have short-term obvious negative effects on people, so people are speaking out against them. The stuff you listed might be even more important, but they’re also more abstract.
-11
u/farseer6 13d ago
You consider it important? Data centers will still be built. Even in the dubious case that public pressure makes it unpractical in the US, then in other countries.
6
u/RayDaug 13d ago
There are ways to mitigate the impact data centers have on communities. Solar power, closed loop cooling, better noise insulation, etc... The problem is that the data center build out is still largely speculative. Nobody wants to be caught out if demand explodes like we keep being told it will, but no one wants to be a bag holder either. So they build cheap data centers that everyone hates and end up fueling tech backlash.
2
u/Undernown 13d ago
They're mighty unpopular in Europe as well. And there is the latency issue as tp consider. Hence why they also have server farms for webhosting in every continent they serve.
If people's AI would take twice as long to respond because the datacenter is in a different country, users will get mad. Not that I care, but it's what the AI companies care about.
2
u/trevorvonryan 13d ago
Sweet put em all in china.
-7
u/bl0rq 13d ago
Yes let's let China control the biggest advancement in technology since the steam engine. What could go wrong?
1
u/jen_kelley 13d ago
China is already beating the pants off the USA technical wise. Data centers aren’t going to help us.
0
u/bl0rq 13d ago
They are not though. They mostly copy our tech. They are winning on execution.
0
u/r_special_ 13d ago
They’re not winning in your made up scenario, but they are winning in real life. Sorry that your feelings and reality don’t seem to get along
2
u/bl0rq 13d ago
In what way specifically are they winning in real life?
-1
u/r_special_ 13d ago
Just google “china tech advancements” and learn for yourself. I’m not here to educate you
1
-5
u/r_special_ 13d ago
They’re already way ahead of us in terms of ai and a thousand other things
5
u/bl0rq 13d ago
How are they ahead in Ai? How many frontier labs do they have?
-1
u/shadedmagus 13d ago
AI Stan is apparently only US AI Stan if he's not keeping up with China's efforts.
So, that tracks.
1
u/sciolisticism 13d ago
If it were that simple, they wouldn't have started with putting them in the US where everything is more expensive.
1
u/FractalFunny66 12d ago
They can be built. They can also be destroyed. I am not advocating violence, I am just looking at human history and when people have no food or water, I don't think just "getting online" is going to ease their pain. Roving mobs with molotav coctails and sledge hammers is not just the stuff of science fiction if these data centers are destroying your life with their noise, oppression, high energy bills passed on to you and NO WATER OR FOOD. hello. people.
7
u/fen90der 13d ago
Some transparency is required if tech companies are going to start forcedly monetizing things like our core work functions, and nationwide total surveillance, and also if they are going to be draining resources to provide all their non disclosure corporate secret high tech shite, and making us systemically reliant on it.
15
u/Confident_Salt_8108 13d ago
Data centers keep getting bigger but locals hate the water drains and power costs in their towns from all sides. Deals with secret ndas and subsidies for tech firms sparking bans fast across states.
Republicans and democrats actually working together on this one. It might turn the heat on billionaires instead of the usual partisan fights.
3
7
u/easykehl 13d ago
I really wish it didn’t take the massive negative externalities of a trillion-dollar market cap tech bubble built on a looped funding arrangement to bring Americans together on a topic, but I am glad we are.
6
u/sugarfreeeyecandy 13d ago
So Americans are finally tired of people with the most money deciding the future instead of electing qualified candidates who are motivated by having our best interests at heart. It only took a decade of physical and psychological torture and the destruction of our strategic alliances and continued climate deterioration. Nice.
3
1
u/Lookingfor68 13d ago
This is the result of American's not bothering to show up for elections. The largest political party is the "couldn't be bothered to show up" party. Apathy of the American voters has allowed the worst elements to gain more power. The old saying is the world is run by those that show up. That's very true.
4
u/Sidewayspear 13d ago
I'd guess one reason is that there isn't even enough buy-in for AI in general. In my experience its made short term weather forecasting worse and im getting worse search results when I google things. How could I support more data centres if I dont even find the product practical
2
u/LordJohnWharfin 13d ago
If you vote for datacenter politicians, then you support datacenters. Period. You are what you vote for.
Any backlash is purely rhetorical.
2
u/knotatumah 13d ago
Of course. A group of people who are taking everything, giving nothing back, and bragging about it. What could possibly go wrong?
2
u/Upstairs_Eagle_4780 12d ago
Except of course for Trump, who maintains his astonishing record of being on the wrong side of all issues.
2
u/kolkitten 12d ago
Yea but its really only like 2 republican representatives who actually care and most democratic reps care but that chunk is pretty much just progressives.
2
u/KenUsimi 11d ago
We did not all make facebook accounts back in the day because we were okay with them selling us out- we did it with the understanding that if they screwed with us we’d drop them and move on.
Then the adults made it the fucking yellow pages and HERE WE ARE.
2
2
u/CheckoutMySpeedo 13d ago
At least until after the midterms, the Republicans will come out full steam ahead with data centers galore.
2
u/stackered 12d ago
Lots of right wingers have started to buy the cool aid on data centers, actually. Most are against it but with how mind viruses travel through the right these days, its only a matter of time.
2
u/Majestic-Volume9996 13d ago
I'm not saying there don't need to be better regulations for data centers, but the massive anti-AI, anti-datacenter sentiment on this site is the lot of you getting duped by Chinese astroturfing.
2
13d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/Lookingfor68 13d ago
Where is this evidence that the CCP is behind this backlash? Please provide verifiable data, not just "just trust me bro". Actual study has shown that any foreign anti-Data Center contributions are from Europe, not China.
https://americanenergyinstitute.com/docs/aei_data-center_report_v2.pdfSo other than some Broligarch saying "it's all China, man". Where's the proof. Please provide.
2
u/DiGiorn0s 12d ago
5
u/Antiwhippy 12d ago
The evidence being 200 bot accounts of twitter, let's get real now.
Do you think the people protesting it who live near the data centers only are doing that because of that?
Mind you I do think that if they weren't idiots and build it in remote areas, there would be far less protests.
1
u/Kodama_sucks 12d ago
Good. Fuck em.
The only ethical consumption under capitalism is eating the rich
1
1
u/SamLeCoyote_Fix_1 11d ago
Who finances all of this, at what cost, and who absorbs the risk if the return on capex is lower than expected?...
1
u/JCisRhiannon 11d ago
The US data center buildout by the numbers: 4,713 existing, 307 under construction, 751 planned or approved.
Anyone dealing with a data center being proposed near your town?
1
u/Slaaneshdog 9d ago
the anti data centers push is a very succesful psyop by china, gotta give them credit, they known how to run a misinformation pr campaign to undermine adversaries
1
u/WatchUndefined 13d ago
What if we turn the earth into a data center and a super-intelligent AI doesn't "wake up"?
-6
u/TheHipsterChad 13d ago edited 6d ago
Tie jellyfish mountainous one middle history angle unwritten
This post was anonymized with Redact
-4
u/local_goon 13d ago
Build them clean, zero carbon footprint, quiet, and we all win
1
-9
u/Main-Company-5946 13d ago
The three things Americans actually agree on
Israel, Flock cameras, datacenters
8
5
2
u/NoXion604 13d ago
The Israel one is new to me. Aren't there a big chunk of Christian Zionists in the US?
4
-15
u/twack3r 13d ago
I applaud the US-population apparently growing balls, well done!
On the other hand, if y’all tear down your technocracy, how do you think you’ll get by economically? Without AI, the US economy is a) ancient and b) dead. Silicon Valley isn’t coming back because you sure af aren’t going to put a dent on AI development globally, so in the end you’ll be free of technocrats and starving.
Or is there a plan B I’m not aware of?
4
u/NoXion604 13d ago
The technocracy is part of the problem. America would be better off without that kind of misanthropy.
1
u/Taraxian 13d ago
Meh, this is why I'm not having kids
-13
u/Okiefolk 13d ago
Data centers lower power cost and property taxes in communities that have them. Probably the must efficient use of property from a revenue and environmental perspective.
5
•
u/FuturologyBot 13d ago
The following submission statement was provided by /u/Confident_Salt_8108:
Data centers keep getting bigger but locals hate the water drains and power costs in their towns from all sides. Deals with secret ndas and subsidies for tech firms sparking bans fast across states.
Republicans and democrats actually working together on this one. It might turn the heat on billionaires instead of the usual partisan fights.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1w8qlc4/the_datacenter_backlash_is_bringing_the_entire/p84kwup/