"The AI industry has been pouring untold resources into building out enormous data centers across the world. The plants are immensely resource-hungry, sucking up huge amounts of fresh water to cool ripping-hot computer hardware. They're turning into a massive strain on the electric grid, forcing some utility operators to enact rolling blackouts during heat waves and cold weather. The issue reached a fever pitch after the Washington Post"
"And it seems like Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, which has committed to spend $600 billion on AI data centers, is painfully aware of the pushback. As the New York Times reports, the company has already spent $6 million on TV ads to convince Americans that data centers aren't that bad. As one "folksy" ad showing off a new data center in Altoona, Iowa, argued, "we're bringing jobs here.""
"Amazon is running its own similar ad campaign in Virginia, for instance, admonishing viewers that the facilities help "connect us to the entire world." According to the Financial Times, data center operators are "planning to go on the offensive with a lobbying blitz" as well, trying to get ahead of the growing public backlash. One data center executive told the FT that lobbying spending is a flash in the pan compared to the tens of billions being spent on infrastructure."
AI companies are rapidly building massive data centers that consume large amounts of fresh water for cooling and place heavy demand on electrical grids, sometimes causing rolling blackouts. Rising power use from these facilities has been linked to increases in customer energy bills. Local communities are organizing to block new data centers amid concerns about resources and quality of life. Major firms are investing heavily in both infrastructure and public messaging, including multimillion-dollar ad buys and lobbying efforts, to counter public backlash and portray data centers as job-creating and connectivity-enhancing investments.
Read at Futurism
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