The Data Center Next Door

[upbeat music] These days it seems like we can't agree on much of anything, but there's one thing that most of us agree on.

We do not like AI data centers.

Seven in 10 Americans oppose the construction of AI data centers in their communities.

I saw this play out earlier this month in my city.

I recently moved just outside of LA to a city called Monterey Park, which is not a city that's in national headlines very often.

But you may have heard of it recently because it became the first city in the United States to ban data centers by way of ballot measure.

[cheering] And data centers lost in a landslide.

Over 80% of Monterey Park voters, including me, voted to ban them.

Despite promises of jobs, economic investment, and tax revenue, residents saw what was happening to other communities' water supply, power bills, and local environments, and they decided to opt out in a powerful show of force.

There are plenty of other cities that are taking action by way of moratoriums, regulations, or requiring additional community approvals.

And on the state level, 14 states in the US have proposed bills that would ban or create moratoriums on AI data centers.

It is clear that unlike tech companies, communities do not seem impressed by the sparkle and shine of the AI gold rush.

People are pushing back on this model of break it now and fix it later that we often find ourselves in in capitalism, and especially in tech.

Instead, folks are asking for a slowdown or an all-out stop to AI infrastructure indefinitely, or until we can ensure that these businesses are going to play by the rules.

Which, by the way, is a problem we keep finding ourselves in.

We're writing the rules of a game while we're playing the first round, and oh, by the way, many of us weren't invited on the field despite the fact that it's in our own backyards.

Amidst the persistent struggles of daily life, we're being forced to ask and answer questions that we didn't know existed five years ago.

The biggest one of all might be, do the ends of AI justify the means of our community's health, safety, and financial stability? I'm your host, Caitlin Cunningham, and today we're going to attempt to better understand the means and the ends and see how communities are showing up for a more equitable future of AI, even if that future is one without this technology altogether.