Wired reporting on a proposed bill to pause building data centers in New York for three years:
Two New York lawmakers on Friday announced that they are introducing a bill that would impose a three-year moratorium on data center development. The announcement makes New York at least the sixth state to introduce legislation putting a pause on data center development in the past few weeks—one of the latest signs of a growing and bipartisan backlash that is quickly finding traction in statehouses around the country.
I’m sure the AI backlash will intensify. I’ve written before about how AI will become a massive cultural divide. People feel very strongly about this and we shouldn’t brush that aside as if it doesn’t matter.
But three years is forever. I’d rather see new legislation that adds incentives for renewable energy or limits on how construction and noise affect communities. Data centers are going to be built. If New York blocks them, they will be built elsewhere. Texas has a lot of space for solar and wind farms.
The AI industry has an insane amount of money right now. It won’t always be like that. This might be a once-a-generation opportunity to funnel that money into clean energy and new infrastructure.
