'The public distaste for the AI industry extends to its leaders.' 'The public distaste for the AI industry extends to its leaders.' The campaign ad begins with a clear, idyllic stream that suddenly turns sludge-brown as two concrete datacenters slam onto its banks. Our farmland," a deep-voiced narrator says. "Because Brent Taylor wrote the law allowing datacenters to take over Tennessee." The attack ad, paid for by the Democrat-aligned Three Star Pac and targeting a Tennessee Republican congressional candidate, is one of more than 150 midterm election campaign commercials across the US focused on datacenters or the artificial intelligence industry. At debates and at rallies, in mailers and online ads, the burgeoning AI industry has taken center stage, as both Republican and Democratic candidates try to convince voters that their opponents will put the unpopular facilities in voters' backyards.

Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk attends the VivaTech conference in Paris on 16 June 2023. Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk attends the VivaTech conference in Paris on 16 June 2023. This was originally published in TechScape, a newsletter about how technology shapes our lives. Elon Musk's SpaceX is the single largest satellite operator in the world, larger than any government space bureau. The life-threatening consequences of that dominance and centralization of power are on full display.

Many residents are concerned about the health and environmental issues a datacenter could bring to the community. Many residents are concerned about the health and environmental issues a datacenter could bring to the community. Inside the long, bitter fight over one man's quest to build the biggest AI datacenter in California Sat 17 Oct 2026 09.00 EDTLast modified on Sat 17 Oct 2026 09.01 EDT Sebastian Rucci zoomed in on a map in late 2024, looking closely at a large block of brown earth. The barren plot sandwiched between sprawling alfalfa fields and sleepy desert suburbs was exactly what he'd been searching for - the perfect place to realize his dream of building the largest artificial intelligence datacenter in California. It was in the Sonoran desert, just north of the Mexican border, where temperatures regularly rose past 100F (37.8C). Water was scarce in the once-booming agricultural area, which gets its supply from the beleaguered Colorado River.

A previously unreported cache of law enforcement and intelligence agency documents show that law enforcement agencies have, since 2021, considered AI both a tool and a target of would-be terrorists. A previously unreported cache of law enforcement and intelligence agency documents show that law enforcement agencies have, since 2021, considered AI both a tool and a target of would-be terrorists. For many, it was a wake up call about the threats to reproductive care facilities. For the FBI, though, it was also a sign of what the agency had feared for years: bad actors were using generative AI to plan and execute terror plots. The suspect used an unnamed generative AI tool that failed to detect his request for bomb-making instructions, law enforcement officers wrote in a previously unreported document reviewed by the Guardian.

Democracy blindsides Silicon Valley's power players looking to transform the world with AI'The push against datacenters speaks to the frustration of people who don't feel they are making the choices in their lives' The Stanford ethicist Rob Reich was once invited to a dinner organized by a Silicon Valley mogul to discuss what a state designed to maximize science and tech powered by commercial models might look like. The gathered technologists were drawn to the idea of building a small nation-state dedicated to the endeavor, Reich recalls in " System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot it". When Reich asked whether this state would be a democracy, he got a cool no. "Democracy is too slow, and it holds science back," he was told. "To optimize for science, we need a beneficent technocrat in charge."

Climate protesters say tech companies, not AI, are the real'danger to humankind' - and the planet O n Monday evening, protesters gathered outside the unmarked Manhattan offices of OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, holding signs calling to "Eat the rich, save the planet". Over the next two days, groups also picketed outside the offices of fellow tech giants Google and Amazon; other protesters, including clergy, were arrested while disrupting a closed-door AI health summit in the city. Tonight, protesters will target a Brooklyn gas power plant that was set to close - until it was purchased to power AI datacenters. The protests come on the heels of an Anthropic employee quitting his job with a warning that intensified an already-growing AI panic: "The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade." Though it was far from the first time an AI expert had issued a doomsday message about the threat the tech poses, this time it dominated public attention, arriving as trust in big tech has hit an all-time low and communities across the country are trying to stop the building of datacenters.

The opposition to datacenters has crossed party lines. The opposition to datacenters has crossed party lines. Tue 1 Sep 2026 08.19 EDTLast modified on Tue 1 Sep 2026 09.08 EDT I was lucky enough to see her in concert a decade ago in California, in the same arena where Google now hosts its annual I/O conference. It's been a long time, and all my iPhone 4 photos are so blurry you can barely tell it's a musical performance, but my memory is clear enough to compensate. She told many stories about her childhood, which led into a trio of fabulous songs: My Tennessee Mountain Home, Applejack and Dr Robert F Thomas.

The datacenter fight could permanently transform US politics. Which party will seize advantage? Bryce Gustafson has been knocking on doors in Indiana for more than a decade. The lead organizer with Citizens Action Coalition (CAC), a consumer and environmental organization, he usually encounters a mix of reactions when he's out canvassing; whatever issue he's talking about, there's always at least a few people on the other side. But at a recent festival in the rural town of Monrovia, Indiana, he was struck by an unusual spirit of unity.

One of the largest datacenters on the east coast, DataOne is also the first in New Jersey seeking to build its own power plant. One of the largest datacenters on the east coast, DataOne is also the first in New Jersey seeking to build its own power plant. One of east coast's largest datacenters accused of'violating federal law' Thu 27 Aug 2026 11.00 EDTLast modified on Thu 27 Aug 2026 12.25 EDT The largest planned AI datacenter in New Jersey is being accused of violating federal law after a visual investigation found the site running dozens of unpermitted gas-powered generators. Thermal drone footage captured by the non-profit newsroom Floodlight last week showed the partly completed DataOne facility in Vineland was operating at least 45 of the site's 62 generators at the time. The datacenter has stirred controversy since breaking ground in 2025 due to persistent noise complaints, unpermitted construction and a contentious zoning process.

Wed 26 Aug 2026 08.00 EDTLast modified on Wed 26 Aug 2026 16.37 EDT On a winding road tucked away behind forests in the Appalachian foothills of southern Ohio is where OpenAI, Nvidia and Japanese investors are set to spend $500bn on one of the largest artificial intelligence datacenters on the planet. Last March, the energy secretary, Chris Wright, the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick and a host of Japanese and other dignitaries briefly descended on Piketon to enthusiastically break ground on a project to build 8GW worth of AI computing power. But locally, there's a different feeling: a mix of hope but also concern. "Personally, my emotions range between positive and skeptical," says Billy Spencer, who has been mayor of Piketon for the past 23 years, of the project. "There's not an organized opposition to it around here. There hasn't been that much talk. No one's come to council - I don't know that there's been one citizen who lives within the village of Piketon who has come and said: 'Mayor, what do you think about it?'"