The data center war

Key Takeaways

The internet brought us the best of the world and the worst of the world in this area. AI is going to do the same thing. >> We know AI is here to stay. We know this sector is going to be part of what drives the American economy for decades to come. But the consequences of something like this once it's up and running are huge. >> So I just got to Violand, New Jersey and I'm here to look at the Data One data center. Now this just started construction early last year and we're already starting to see some community pushback when it So much so that Data One has had to actually delay its plans for expansion. And this has also been showing up in the political arena, too. Southern New Jersey is home to New Jersey's second congressional district and there's some Democrats who have been making this the focus of their campaigns hoping to really seize on to the community backlash on the issue. >> These city council meetings were packed because people were saying, "Wait a minute, what is going on here?" >> The writing is on the wall for what lies ahead for our city and you sit here staring blankly or doodling on your papers. There are still steps you can take to speak up and protect us from potential harm. >> People are just concerned about their day-to-day life. This is a kitchen table issue. >> How many of you right now feel like you got information about the data center before the construction started? No. Nobody. Okay. Now we just finished talking to Violand residents about this data center and I think it got us a lot closer to figuring out what people actually think about this issue. So if I think back to what some of the politicians in Washington told us that data centers are a necessary evil, I think they've got another thing coming to them when they actually talk to people on the ground.