Left, Right, and (Data) Center

“The breadth of data center opposition alone suggests that the fight no longer centers simplistically on environmental concerns or NIMBYism, the forces of oligarchy or the prospect of an A.I. future — though each of these plays a role … It’s a pretty big tent. That’s one thing it means to have three-quarters of the country on your side: You have to draw together different constituencies, from climate activists to MAHA moms and plenty of normies, with their own concerns, in between.” David Wallace-Wells on the quickly growing movement that is crossing geographies and party lines (but still might not be enough to move the needle because of issues raised in the story above). I Expected Tech Fatalism. Americans Are Putting Up a Remarkable Fight Instead.

+ You may not want that data center. But the AI agents want it. And they just might contact you to talk about it. That’s what has been happening to philosophers and researchers exploring deep questions about the tech. Study A.I. Consciousness? The Bots Would Like a Word With You. “In October, Cameron Berg published a research paper asking whether the latest wave of artificial intelligence technologies believed they were conscious. Several months later, he received an email asking if he might be willing to discuss his research. The sender, ‘Isabella Cognita,’ identified itself as an A.I. agent powered by Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5 technology.”