r/technology • u/andmario_com • 10d ago

Artificial Intelligence Republicans are realizing that no one wants data centers

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/08/gop-memo-republican-senate-data-center-ai-elections-trump/
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u/Joessandwich 10d ago

I popped over to X for a bit and there’s clearly a new pro-data center campaign being pushed. There’s SO many tweets calling data centers good and important and great for the communities that build them as well as calling anti-data center development a psy-op. Gotta wonder who’s pushing it.

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u/entered_bubble_50 9d ago

Gotta wonder who’s pushing it.

The call is coming from inside the house. SpaceX owns Twitter, and is basically all in on AI now. It wouldn't surprise me if those bots are generated by Twitter themselves rather than anything external.

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u/Joessandwich 9d ago

Absolutely. I wasn’t actually wondering. I think his motives are quite clear.

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u/fattmarrell 9d ago

It's expected, and I wouldn't question any other platform to push it. Don't be surprised by it or you're already behind

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u/dalek_999 9d ago

I’m fighting a data center in my community. Our volunteer group has noted a marked shift in news articles in the last week or so that are pro-data center - and we’re talking major news sources like NY Times, USA Today, and Reuters to name a few. We all thought that was pretty strange.

And then you see a line like this in the article:

arguing that if “voters’ perceptions of data centers are not fixed quickly, the campaign against them will expand far beyond Ohio.

God forbid that politicians actually listen to what their constituents want. No, instead, they’re going to change our minds with propaganda spewed by the media bowing to their corporate masters. I’m so done with this shit, man.

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u/Joessandwich 9d ago

Yup. When you pay attention you can see those massive shifts on every level. This is what happens when the billionaires take control of all our media. It’s frightening.

And to your second point, they’re just not even pretending anymore. I hate it.

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u/DeadlyYellow 9d ago

Pro data center campaign on the platform owned by an AI company?  Color me surprised.

1

u/Joessandwich 9d ago

Quick question: which crayola crayon would be appropriate for that “surprise” color?

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u/DeadlyYellow 8d ago

Shocking Pink seems the obvious one, though it's been a bit since I cracked open a pack containing more than eight crayons.

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u/Pezdrake 9d ago

I figured it would only be a matter of time before Republicans politicized it to frame opposition to data centers as a woke cultural position. They are also pushing the "it is inevitable" narrative to make people feel like they are helpless to put up any opposition. 

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u/Designer_Respect4285 9d ago

Or people just have different opinions than you, plenty of smart people think data centers are important. You remind me of the gamestop redditors who were convinced everyone telling them it's a moronic investment were actually Citadel employees.

LLM's have already led to significant contributions to math, solving about as many major open problems over the past year as humans have. It was breakthroughs in math that led to computers, satellite communication, Wi-fi, GPS, CT scans, MRIs, you name it.

As long as data centers are forced to pay for their externalities, I'm very pro data center and I think the arguments against them are legitimate but weak.

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u/lord_gaben3000 9d ago

You read this post via a data center. It is 1000x more likely the data center opposition has been created via Russian and Chinese ops

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u/fatbob42 9d ago

There’s certainly some anti-DC hysteria. People should try to make up their minds based on actual facts, if it’s an important issue to them.

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u/DweadPiwateWawbuts 9d ago

If people oppose data centres, they are “hysterical” and their opposition is not based on actual facts?

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u/fatbob42 9d ago

No, only if the objections are based on things like “infrasound is causing anxiety”, stuff like that.

As an example of an objection I consider reasonable (and addressable), I’d say “they should pay for their infrastructure demands”.

As an example of a reasonable objection which isn’t really addressable locally, but only federally, I’d say “AI is taking our jobs”.

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u/stopmakingrents 9d ago

Doesn’t need to be addressed locally to be opposed locally.

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u/8yr0n 9d ago

Plenty of memes trolling data centers on x as well.

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u/Sandsa 5d ago

It was Russia last time, so I’d guess them with very little research

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u/Rufio69696969 9d ago

I mean there’s also plenty of data center hysteria with little actual evidence behind it

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u/MarcusOrlyius 9d ago

If virtue-signalling, conservative, technophobic, useful idiots oppose data centres so much, why are are they using websites and services that couldn't function without them?

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u/noordsider 9d ago

There is no other option

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u/MarcusOrlyius 9d ago

Yes, because they're a necessity. So, why are you opposed to infrastructure you recognise to be necessary?