The left and right agree on one thing: no data centers
Summary
Nilay Patel and Verge policy reporter Gabby Delvaye discuss the growing, bipartisan backlash against AI data centers, which is scrambling traditional political alignments. Delvaye details how conservative grassroots groups like Humans First are organizing protests in Florida and other states over concerns regarding water usage, noise, and community impact. The conversation explores how data centers have become a proxy for broader frustrations with generative AI, job displacement, and corporate influence, potentially impacting the upcoming midterm elections.
Topics discussed
Sponsors: CrowdStrike and Visible
Intro: Data centers as a proxy for AI backlash
Gabby DeWee on the bipartisan nature of the opposition
The populist technocrat divide and local control
Rumors, water usage, and the 'scary building' factor
Specific local concerns: ICE, noise, and pollution
Why some protests make national news
Local media coverage and community organizing
Sponsors: Even Realities, Horizon3, and CrowdStrike
Local government responsiveness and political pressure
Florida politics: Byron Donalds and the gubernatorial race
Legal changes, 5G fears, and the China narrative
Scrambled culture war lines and populist politics
Trump's 'multitudes' and the limits of MAGA unity
Wisconsin nostalgia: Factories vs. Data Centers
Florida's lost landscape: Orange groves to data centers
The 'NIMBY' argument and the search for 'somewhere else'
Potential solutions: Community input and regulation
Sponsors: Granola, Rippling, and IBM Quantum
The local nature of the issue and national implications
Predicting Trump's response and the 2026 election impact
Closing thoughts: Future coverage and the climate parallel
Credits and sign-off
Sponsor: Stamps.com
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