New York’s data center moratorium, announced Tuesday, signals growing mainstream political pushback to unchecked AI growth in the US.
The move puts a one-year suspension on construction of large-scale facilities in the state and is the first of its kind in the US, which is seeing a rapid AI infrastructure buildout to meet relentless demand for compute.
Progressive candidates have capitalized on local opposition to data centers to win recent elections, “making the AI industry into a new bogeyman,” akin to how left-leaning activists made pro-Israel groups toxic in Democratic politics, Semafor’s David Weigel wrote.
Americans’ confidence in Big Tech is at a new low, a Gallup poll showed, underscoring the challenge tech companies face.
