The War on Data Centers & Parasite Hits the Produce Aisle | 7.16.26
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
New York's governor blocks all new data centers in the state, prompting a strong rebuke from President Trump.
These hyperscale AI data centers consume enormous amounts of power, truly threatening to outpace our grid's capacity.
What does the move mean for New Yorkers, and will the political bet pay off?
I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley. It's Thursday, July 16th, and this is Morning Wire.
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How much power do AI hyperscale data centers use and why is that a grid concern?
Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. New York has become the first state to impose a moratorium on future data center construction.
Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order this week imposing a one-year freeze on all new large-scale AI data centers, leading to some mixed reactions across the political spectrum. Joining us now to break it all down is Cabot Phillips, host of Wired In. So Cabot, first, what is this order, why was it implemented, and what is it going to do?
Yeah, so as you said, this statewide pause is the first of its kind, and it comes as the public has become increasingly skeptical of AI data center construction more broadly. You can see that in polling across the political spectrum. But as for Hochul's order, it blocks the state government from issuing environmental permits for any hyperscale data center requiring more than 50 megawatts of power, which almost all new data centers require. Hochul says the pause is intended to give state regulators more time to draw up regulations for new data center construction. She argues that right now the state is expanding too quickly and driving up utility costs for New Yorkers. Governor Hochul also wants to force these companies to either generate their own power or pay a premium to plug into the state power grid.
And those ideas are gaining traction among many Democrats.
Now, this is an issue that crosses party lines, but President Trump has been particularly bullish on this. How did he respond to Hochul's moratorium?
Yeah, to your point, Democrats are more likely to oppose new data centers in their area. But even Republicans, according to Gallup, 62 percent say that they don't want new data centers in their community. So a lot of concern right now from people in both parties. But President Trump just blasted the move with a lengthy Truth Social post. He called data centers, quote, money machines for the states that land them, and argued that taxes and jobs that they create amount to, quote, liquid gold. The president said that Governor Hochul was halting these projects for, in his view, quote, political reasons, and it was going to come at the expense of her constituents, who will now, in his view, miss out on millions of dollars in tax revenue.
And he says that these jobs will also instead just go to states like Texas and Florida, where they are more welcome. The president also called on the governor to reverse the policy and left off with a warning that Democrats, quote, must not be allowed to cause us to lose data centers, AI, and all of this incredible new technology to China. And the China point there is important. We've heard that from a lot of Republicans, that China does not want us innovating when it comes to this technology and that they are very happy anytime they see a U.S. data center put on pause. A huge factor in the AI race, as they point out, between the US and China just comes down to raw computing power. And computing power comes from data centers.
And China could absolutely come out on top if companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are throttled in developing their new models due to a lack of data centers. And President Trump is not the only one making that argument.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:04–0:59
2
How much power do AI hyperscale data centers use and why is that a grid concern?
0:59–5:51
3
Why did New York impose a one-year moratorium on hyperscale data centers?
5:51–10:00
4
What does Governor Hochul want companies to do about energy for data centers?
10:00–11:23
5
How did President Trump and other lawmakers react to New York’s data center pause?
11:23–18:23
Speakers
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