How Governments in the U.S. and Europe Are Stalling the AI Buildout
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees, but I don't really need it.
Inflation is killing me. But who cares? Big retailers are making record profits. That's why we support the Durbin Marshall credit card bill. See?
Banks and credit unions help small businesses make payroll. This bill would cut the vital resources they need.
While increasing megastore profits. They deserve it, don't they?
How big is the data‑center buildout fueling the AI boom?
Tell Congress, stop the Durbin Marshall money grab for corporate megastores. Paid for by the Electronic Payments Coalition. Hey, What's News listeners. It's Sunday, July 19th. I'm Alex Osola for The Wall Street Journal. This is What's News Sunday, the show where we tackle the big questions about the biggest stories in the news. On the show this week, data centers are being built all over the world to power the artificial intelligence boom. We're looking at efforts across the U.S. and elsewhere to slow their build-out. As AI becomes more embedded in people's lives, there's a growing need for data centers to power it. According to recent Pew Research, there are more than 3,000 operating data centers in the U.S.
and another 1,500 in the works. The AI giants are paying a lot to make those happen. Analysts estimate that the capital spending by just five of the hyperscalers — Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle — to be $741 billion this year alone. But the communities where these data centers are being built or proposed have been less enthusiastic.
Anybody that's against this, please stand up for the next minute.
Project Blue will be net water positive. It sets a new standard.
We want water! We want water!
We want water!
People are worried about how much water these buildings use, how much electricity they consume. They think they're noisy and that they're bad for the environment and that having one nearby will make their homes less valuable. A May poll from Gallup shows that 7 in 10 Americans oppose data centers being built in their local area. That's not the case everywhere. But increasingly, people are making their opposition known. They're protesting, joining Facebook groups, and pushing local lawmakers to stop the data center's construction. As of last week, the Journal has found that about 240 local governments had moratoriums on building them. Also last week, New York became the first state in the U.S. to issue a temporary ban.
Here's New York Governor Kathy Hochul announcing it.
These hyperscale AI data centers consume enormous amounts of power. truly threatening to outpace our grid's capacity, and they drive up costs for local ratepayers. And I refuse to let those costs be passed on to New Yorkers who already pay too much for their utility bills.
Also last week, Australia's prime minister said his country plans to require data centers to underwrite their electricity and water supplies, with legislation expected early next year. To understand more about how governments are stalling the data center build-out, I'm joined by journal reporter Will Parker, who covers data centers in the U.S., and Yusuf Khan, who's following the story in Europe. Right off the bat, we're talking about opposition and, you know, moves to delay some of these projects. But are all communities approaching it like this or some sort of welcoming in these projects with open arms?
There's a distinction being made between the local governments in these places and their voters and constituents. Often what you see is that many of the local governments are extremely supportive, right? I mean, they are the ones that update their zoning codes and try to make their laws amenable to data center developers so they can come in and build these projects. One of the reasons that they're doing it is that the data centers oftentimes produce a lot of revenue for local governments. And there are some that are extremely proud of their track record on this. Loudoun County in Virginia, for example, often touts how robust their finances are now because of the data center boom and what they're able to spend on public infrastructure and schools and so forth.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:25
2
How big is the data‑center buildout fueling the AI boom?
0:25–4:29
3
Why are local communities and voters opposing new data centers?
4:29–9:14
4
How widespread are moratoriums and state bans on data centers?
9:14–11:19
5
How are U.S. local governments practically trying to rein in data‑center growth?
11:19–11:50
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from WSJ What’s News
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