Lauren Goode: All of them are interested in growing. Mike, who amongst us? Hyperscalers is a term used to describe a group of large tech companies and cloud service providers. Meta, Amazon. Microsoft. Google. All of them fall into this group.
Molly Taft These companies are able to do some crazy things to build quickly and to expand really, really big. The companies are able to create some crazy projects to quickly build and expand. The goal is to have these projects up and running as quickly as possible so they can use the physical infrastructure they build to compete.
Lauren Goode: Molly, I agree. It seems like there are a lot more enemies being created right now. And I’d love to take part in their group conversations when these announcements were made.
Michael Calore: Yep, speaking of enemies, another sphere in which these companies operate is political influence. To build a huge data center, it is necessary to get the support of the residents in the area, as well as the government and state. What’s going on in the political arena between those who support building more data centres and those who are against it? How’s that going?
Molly Taft This is a very good question. If you examine the national discussion, I’m sure it will differ from what’s going on at the local level. Washington is a place where you have an administration which supports the notion of an American AI Empire. The way the Trump administration approached the support for fossil fuels is important to the energy discussion. All data centers should be run by coal, oil and gas. It’s a win-win situation for both industries. When there is a massive increase in energy demand, being the source that people turn to when they need power can be incredibly cool. On the other hand, locals have been voicing their opposition for various reasons. They may be concerned about the use of water, or they might be worried about the rising cost of electricity. I think about xAI Memphis. Elon Musk, who wanted xAI to work in Memphis’ majority Black neighborhood that had serious air pollution problems and asthma already installed the unpermitted turbines. These people made their voices heard. DC tried to implement a moratorium in DC on state AI regulation earlier this year. The Big Beautiful Bill included a very broad range of AI. It ultimately failed. Marjorie Taylor Greene was one of those who publicly opposed the bill. She compared AI with Skynet from the Terminator film franchise and even mentioned data centres in her objection. It’s a bit strange that these two groups are collaborating. I see this as a contrast between powerful energy firms and what the Administration is pushing forward, along with some grassroots local movements, concerned about their impact on the community.
