This afternoon, I called a few American guys who stay up all night and chatted with them about the current push to halt AI and the data center boom. They said that the vast majority of local residents and coworkers around them strongly support putting a stop to it.
That’s because it not only means locals have to pay more for electricity, but also doesn’t create many jobs.
Meanwhile, tech entrepreneurs brag every day about how they’ve laid off lots of people thanks to AI. Combined with constantly rising prices, this has made people strongly resentful.
From the perspective of someone who doesn’t trade stocks and is just an ordinary worker, news about the AI revolution actually makes people view it even more negatively. After all, people who work in the internet industry are still a tiny minority of the world’s population.
The people having the worst time are the guys who used to live peacefully on farms. Their communities had been quiet and comfortable for decades, then suddenly they found out that a huge data center was being built on an abandoned farm not far from their neighborhood. There was nonstop construction, trucks coming and going, and the rumbling could be heard from far away. It made it impossible for people to relax in peace.
They also told me about a case where a developer and local officials signed a confidentiality agreement, and residents only found out later. It caused a huge uproar and made people even more opposed to this kind of development.
So, since they couldn’t stop it, they decided to vote entirely for the Democrats. They didn’t care what the Democrats’ policies were—as long as they could vote out the people supporting AI and data centers. And that’s how we got the results of this year’s midterm elections.
That’s because it not only means locals have to pay more for electricity, but also doesn’t create many jobs.
Meanwhile, tech entrepreneurs brag every day about how they’ve laid off lots of people thanks to AI. Combined with constantly rising prices, this has made people strongly resentful.
From the perspective of someone who doesn’t trade stocks and is just an ordinary worker, news about the AI revolution actually makes people view it even more negatively. After all, people who work in the internet industry are still a tiny minority of the world’s population.
The people having the worst time are the guys who used to live peacefully on farms. Their communities had been quiet and comfortable for decades, then suddenly they found out that a huge data center was being built on an abandoned farm not far from their neighborhood. There was nonstop construction, trucks coming and going, and the rumbling could be heard from far away. It made it impossible for people to relax in peace.
They also told me about a case where a developer and local officials signed a confidentiality agreement, and residents only found out later. It caused a huge uproar and made people even more opposed to this kind of development.
So, since they couldn’t stop it, they decided to vote entirely for the Democrats. They didn’t care what the Democrats’ policies were—as long as they could vote out the people supporting AI and data centers. And that’s how we got the results of this year’s midterm elections.
