As voters across the country begin to rally against the unchecked construction of data centers, artificial intelligence companies are panicking and investing millions into propaganda to paint the energy-sucking facilities in a more positive light.
By 2030, the amount of energy demanded by US data centers is expected to more than double, according to the International Energy Agency.
Energy costs have spiked considerably in the states with the most data centers. And as the industry continues its breakneck expansion, one watchdog report found that consumers on America’s largest electric grid are expected to pay hundreds of dollars more to meet increased power demand from now until 2027.
These costs became an unexpected point of emphasis for Democrats in November, whose calls for greater transparency from tech companies seeking to build data centers propelled them to victory in elections from New Jersey to Virginia.
But tech companies want to keep building, and as AI threatens to become a central villain of the 2026 midterm elections, Politico reports that companies are putting the wheels in motion to portray themselves “as job creators and economic drivers rather than resource-hungry land hogs.”
fukijama on
And now its time for voters to ramp up their propaganda to defund the billionaires
BigDaddyCoolDeisel on
I’m already seeing it.
„China is ENTHUSIASTIC about ai…. THEY’RE WINNING… why arent YOU excited about ai, America? Are you unpatriotic? Its exciting!!“
Fuck that noise.
Edit: Lest anyone think I’m a luddite opposed to ai; I know it has some immense potential positives for humanity. I also know it carries massive risks for all of us and I have zero faith in men like Musk, Sachs, trump and his sons, and this entire cabal to look out for anyone’s interests but their own. They have given us no reason to trust them. Eventually we have to start looking out for ourselves. Fuck em.
cassanderer on
Too bad establishment dems are beholden to tech, they will not do anything of note even if they could. It is why they lose.
marlinspike on
What is the Progressive plan for Energy, because I think that is the critical area of concern. We aren’t building enough energy production for a variety of reasons, and there’s blame to share across parties. We should have been building Nuclear and Small Modular reactors. We should have been building more wind and solar.
We should be building a whole lot more than we are.
dlc741 on
There was a huge propaganda push in this morning’s Gannett newspaper. One section talking about how awesome data centers are and another section talking about how amazing AI is. I threw-up a little in my mouth.
Optimoprimo on
LinkedIn is lousing with it
every-day_throw-away on
Don’t let em bamboozle you. AI is garbage and needs to highly regulated.
Separate-Spot-8910 on
the tech bros can go fuck themselves
[deleted] on
[deleted]
Actual__Wizard on
Cool man! From the people who didn’t value our democracy enough to stop the flood of election manipulating propaganda from foreign countries!
Now, they’re going to lie to us ever more!
Capable-Spinach10 on
Cant make this shit up 🤣 job creators right right
Antique_Grapefruit_5 on
They should be toxic to voters. We’re all going to be paying substantially more for electronics and electricity because of their uncontrolled growth. We’re doing that so that billionaires can become even richer and eliminate the jobs of millions, while simultaneously destroying farmland and increasing pollution. It’s stupid to support this.
Make it political suicide to allow these to happen. Not just to support it, but to not fight it all the way.
SkinnedIt on
They’re leeches. No surprise. Disinterest is where it’s at!
ericDXwow on
Yeah. Tech bros are sucking resources into their AI wet dream, causing layoffs and refusing UBI. Then asking „why everyone hates us?!?“ Lol
oh_my316 on
Screw these stinking oligarchs 🖕
Raa03842 on
Yeah I love the guy (paid actor) who’s so happy that meta build a data center in his town so that he now has supposedly more time with his family. Of course he’ll need a second job to pay for the increased cost of electricity and will only hold that job until they figure out how to replace him with AI.
BayouBait on
Big Tech and their data centers can lick my balls.
Slap-Toast on
We need to prevent anymore from being built and destroy all the ones that have been built.
KnotSoSalty on
Why don’t they invest as much money into renewable energy as they do AI? In 2025 spending on data centers was 3x renewable energy, 210b$ vs 70b$.
If every data center was powered by new renewable energy and all of our power bills went down at the same time I’d change my opinion.
Ok_Astronomer_8667 on
Solidgoldmagikarp
NomadFH on
You know they could just do a profit sharing deal with their neighbors or simply subsidize the energy costs for their communities instead of doing the opposite.
Chrimaho on
The Meta ad for an AI center in Altoona or wherever, is on CONSTANTLY now.
Yah, good for you, you used to drive a truck and farm and are now stuck in a poisonous building all day.
Stupid ad and some simps will fall for the propaganda.
Ridiculous.
Y0___0Y on
I attended a city council meeting in a small town as part of my work and many residents showed up to this meeting to express their disapproval of an AI data center that was in early proposal stages.
Half the people were earnest and had strong arguments against the data center
The other half were Qanon kooks. A woman got up and said the Chinese are going to take over America with a robot army. One woman said dirty electricity causes autism. Lots of appeals to “think of the children”. One man brought up school shootings and said kids are scared to go to school, but with AI data centere near town, they will be scared to go home because of “light and noise pollution” and went in for two minutes about how children shouldn’t have to live in fear. What??
The conspiracy theorists are going to cripple public backlash against data centers. Big tech will just dimiss anyone who has a problem with them as whacky conspiracy theorists.
Kahnza on
I wonder how many bots big tech uses to try and sway peoples opinion to align with theirs? 🤔
khanempire on
Hard to blame locals when they see the costs but not the benefits.
MegaMaster1021 on
For people that love to claim AI is the future. They sure have to throw a lot of money around to convincing people it is.
Specialist_Heron_986 on
Unless NIMBYism wins, AI data centers in rural areas will be the 2030s equivalent of chemical plants and oil refineries near poor neighborhoods. Few will be aware or care unless they’re directly affected.
rkmkthe6th on
Cmon, society, can’t we all pull together and make AI work really well? So we can all get fired and a few tech companies get all the benefit?
Cosack on
It’s not about if they’ll build them, it’s at what price tag for local utility enhancements and sound proofing. No amount of propaganda makes someone want to live with water rationing or the sound of a swarm of locusts in their back yard
Daimakku1 on
There’s a Google data center being built near me. It’s a red state with all Republicans in here. They’re not going to do shit to stop it and I expect my electricity bills to go up because of it.
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As voters across the country begin to rally against the unchecked construction of data centers, artificial intelligence companies are panicking and investing millions into propaganda to paint the energy-sucking facilities in a more positive light.
By 2030, the amount of energy demanded by US data centers is expected to more than double, according to the International Energy Agency.
Energy costs have spiked considerably in the states with the most data centers. And as the industry continues its breakneck expansion, one watchdog report found that consumers on America’s largest electric grid are expected to pay hundreds of dollars more to meet increased power demand from now until 2027.
These costs became an unexpected point of emphasis for Democrats in November, whose calls for greater transparency from tech companies seeking to build data centers propelled them to victory in elections from New Jersey to Virginia.
But tech companies want to keep building, and as AI threatens to become a central villain of the 2026 midterm elections, Politico reports that companies are putting the wheels in motion to portray themselves “as job creators and economic drivers rather than resource-hungry land hogs.”
And now its time for voters to ramp up their propaganda to defund the billionaires
I’m already seeing it.
„China is ENTHUSIASTIC about ai…. THEY’RE WINNING… why arent YOU excited about ai, America? Are you unpatriotic? Its exciting!!“
Fuck that noise.
Edit: Lest anyone think I’m a luddite opposed to ai; I know it has some immense potential positives for humanity. I also know it carries massive risks for all of us and I have zero faith in men like Musk, Sachs, trump and his sons, and this entire cabal to look out for anyone’s interests but their own. They have given us no reason to trust them. Eventually we have to start looking out for ourselves. Fuck em.
Too bad establishment dems are beholden to tech, they will not do anything of note even if they could. It is why they lose.
What is the Progressive plan for Energy, because I think that is the critical area of concern. We aren’t building enough energy production for a variety of reasons, and there’s blame to share across parties. We should have been building Nuclear and Small Modular reactors. We should have been building more wind and solar.
We should be building a whole lot more than we are.
There was a huge propaganda push in this morning’s Gannett newspaper. One section talking about how awesome data centers are and another section talking about how amazing AI is. I threw-up a little in my mouth.
LinkedIn is lousing with it
Don’t let em bamboozle you. AI is garbage and needs to highly regulated.
the tech bros can go fuck themselves
[deleted]
Cool man! From the people who didn’t value our democracy enough to stop the flood of election manipulating propaganda from foreign countries!
Now, they’re going to lie to us ever more!
Cant make this shit up 🤣 job creators right right
They should be toxic to voters. We’re all going to be paying substantially more for electronics and electricity because of their uncontrolled growth. We’re doing that so that billionaires can become even richer and eliminate the jobs of millions, while simultaneously destroying farmland and increasing pollution. It’s stupid to support this.
Make it political suicide to allow these to happen. Not just to support it, but to not fight it all the way.
They’re leeches. No surprise. Disinterest is where it’s at!
Yeah. Tech bros are sucking resources into their AI wet dream, causing layoffs and refusing UBI. Then asking „why everyone hates us?!?“ Lol
Screw these stinking oligarchs 🖕
Yeah I love the guy (paid actor) who’s so happy that meta build a data center in his town so that he now has supposedly more time with his family. Of course he’ll need a second job to pay for the increased cost of electricity and will only hold that job until they figure out how to replace him with AI.
Big Tech and their data centers can lick my balls.
We need to prevent anymore from being built and destroy all the ones that have been built.
Why don’t they invest as much money into renewable energy as they do AI? In 2025 spending on data centers was 3x renewable energy, 210b$ vs 70b$.
If every data center was powered by new renewable energy and all of our power bills went down at the same time I’d change my opinion.
Solidgoldmagikarp
You know they could just do a profit sharing deal with their neighbors or simply subsidize the energy costs for their communities instead of doing the opposite.
The Meta ad for an AI center in Altoona or wherever, is on CONSTANTLY now.
Yah, good for you, you used to drive a truck and farm and are now stuck in a poisonous building all day.
Stupid ad and some simps will fall for the propaganda.
Ridiculous.
I attended a city council meeting in a small town as part of my work and many residents showed up to this meeting to express their disapproval of an AI data center that was in early proposal stages.
Half the people were earnest and had strong arguments against the data center
The other half were Qanon kooks. A woman got up and said the Chinese are going to take over America with a robot army. One woman said dirty electricity causes autism. Lots of appeals to “think of the children”. One man brought up school shootings and said kids are scared to go to school, but with AI data centere near town, they will be scared to go home because of “light and noise pollution” and went in for two minutes about how children shouldn’t have to live in fear. What??
The conspiracy theorists are going to cripple public backlash against data centers. Big tech will just dimiss anyone who has a problem with them as whacky conspiracy theorists.
I wonder how many bots big tech uses to try and sway peoples opinion to align with theirs? 🤔
Hard to blame locals when they see the costs but not the benefits.
For people that love to claim AI is the future. They sure have to throw a lot of money around to convincing people it is.
Unless NIMBYism wins, AI data centers in rural areas will be the 2030s equivalent of chemical plants and oil refineries near poor neighborhoods. Few will be aware or care unless they’re directly affected.
Cmon, society, can’t we all pull together and make AI work really well? So we can all get fired and a few tech companies get all the benefit?
It’s not about if they’ll build them, it’s at what price tag for local utility enhancements and sound proofing. No amount of propaganda makes someone want to live with water rationing or the sound of a swarm of locusts in their back yard
There’s a Google data center being built near me. It’s a red state with all Republicans in here. They’re not going to do shit to stop it and I expect my electricity bills to go up because of it.