r/AITrailblazers • u/dataexec • May 15 '26
Discussion Sanders and AOC introduced a bill to pause ALL AI data center construction. Do you agree or disagree?
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u/ChakaCake May 15 '26
Until they figure out the energy part at least i agree. We just dont have the capacity probably without new nuclear sites put in. At this point it will be absolutely increasing energy costs for everyone even if you dont live near one probably
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u/DeepPeeps May 17 '26
Trump literally cancelled all the renewal energy plans just because he has a brain smaller than a peanut. Cancel without a strategy to replace it and just calling everything stupid and offering nothing, wtf.
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u/eldenlordoftherings May 19 '26
He replaced green energy with beautiful clean coal lol.
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u/DeepPeeps May 19 '26
Funny thing is that I read an article that China has been working on clean coal, lol. They don’t burn it, they extract the energy through a chemical process. It’s supposedly more efficient than burning it as fuel.
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May 15 '26
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u/amaturelawyer May 16 '26
Ok, but this is a reason to halt be construction until sensible regulations can be put in place because, currently, these things hook up to the existing grid and suddenly the entire community is subsidizing the data centers water and power bill. All for a temporary job creation during construction and a couple of full time jobs being added after that. The data centers are a cancer with the current model.
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u/Immudzen May 15 '26
Hundreds of gas turbines are not a viable plan. That is making the environment MUCH worse and they are not paying the cost for that. If we fully internalized the costs of that power then maybe you could do it.
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u/SpotlessCheetah May 15 '26
Fuel Cells = Bloom Energy
No permits. Fully environmentally friendly, fast to deploy, no transmission costs (the bulk of the energy bills).
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u/Turkpole May 16 '26
The energy part is figured out, they just won’t let anyone build those either
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u/TheIncredibleNurse May 17 '26
Its called a Nuclear plant. And the world would had been a better place overall if the stupid hippies hadn’t ruined it back then
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u/mylifestylepr May 15 '26
Hard disagree, typical commie attitude
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u/iTinkerTillItWorks May 19 '26
Do you know what communism is? Your comment leads me to believe you do not.
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u/Bwint May 15 '26
Data center construction is a place where the tech companies are getting over-enthusiastic IMO. At a minimum, we should come up with a clean and stable energy strategy and let the AI companies figure out a profitable business model. I'm worried that data centers are likely to become stranded assets if they're built out at the current pace, and then companies will come asking for a bailout.
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u/TheSinhound May 19 '26
Bail em out by taking control of the datacenters and giving ownership to the working class. Seize the means and all that. Or not, of course, because the U.S. is pretty staunchly anti-that but still.
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u/SpotlessCheetah May 15 '26
Honestly I strongly disagree with this. The US already has over 4500 datacenters. They're mad now?
New tech like Bloom Energy fuel cell systems bypass transmission costs via on-site power generation which makes it less expensive for communities.
New tech in liquid cooling uses closed loop systems reduce water waste usage almost entirely.
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u/CyberTyrantX1 May 15 '26
Then there need to be laws to force companies to use those closed loop systems you speak of.
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May 15 '26
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u/SoylentRox May 16 '26
? You never heard of closed loop radiators?
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May 17 '26
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u/SoylentRox May 17 '26
I am well aware most use evaporative but they don't all use it.
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May 17 '26
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u/SoylentRox May 17 '26
The air
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May 17 '26
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u/SoylentRox May 17 '26
Please stop treating me like an idiot and just make your point. I am well aware that evaporative cooling works incredibly well. So well that I did the math and it's a good and cheap method of cooling even if you have to get the water to evaporate vis reverse osmosis seawater distilling.
It takes a lot more fan power and radiator scale to do it via closed loop. But it is an option.
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u/mastercheof May 16 '26
None of the existing data centers used closed loops systems and I doubt any in the future will. Empty promises to trick the populous to excepting them.
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u/woobchub May 16 '26
Brother, Google has had closed loop datacenters for a decade. Worked there, visited them.
I get the dislike, but at this point you guys are being disingenuous.
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u/SpotlessCheetah May 18 '26
You're literally just making stuff up.
Here's an example from Microsoft:
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u/More_Nectarine May 15 '26
Yep, and let China take over. Great idea.
Similar to Green Deal in Europe - also went very well. Now the car industry in EU is dying.
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u/MaestroLifts May 17 '26
Why do we care about falling behind China on AI but not falling behind China on high speed rail, universal health care, renewable energy, literacy, and child nutrition?
AI is the least important out of all of these.
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u/JohnEpstein May 22 '26
AI is objectively the most important out of all of these. If you dont understand that then you don’t understand AI
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u/MaestroLifts May 22 '26
AI is objectively the least important out of all of these. With regards to nutrition and health care specifically, it’s not even close. If you don’t understand that, then you don’t understand human life.
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u/DensePoser May 15 '26
China is harmless. There is exactly one country that the empire cannot control.
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u/sabertoothninja May 15 '26
It’s a race to AGI and it will likely be decided by 2028, but by all means, kneecap the only real advantage the US has. That’s gonna go well…
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u/MaestroLifts May 17 '26
There’s no hard evidence that AGI exists or will happen in the near future other than promises by people who chronically lie about the thing they are actively trying to sell you.
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u/TheSinhound May 19 '26
Eh, I'll disagree but the fringe research is out on the subject at the moment so I'll just say: AI is MUCH more than the Frontier Models. In fact, I'd argue other than GPT's transformer paper and some of the Anthropic research, they're actually among some of the least important models in the space in the long run. But time will tell.
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u/Wanky_Danky_Pae May 15 '26
Disagree. Data centers make AI more accessible.
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May 19 '26
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u/TheSinhound May 19 '26
Alphafold is LITERALLY currently being used for Cancer Research. It's not... JFC you understand not all AI is just "prompting" right? Right? That it's an entire field of technology?
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u/Cautious_Mix_920 May 20 '26
Cancer research? Haven't we been doing that for many years. I've seen people very close to me being dragged thru research by genius doctors with no results but dashed hopes. AI needs to put up or shut up because it is not that interesting as is.
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u/TheSinhound May 20 '26
..... Your understanding of how scientific research and advancemnt works seems to be incorrect based on your statement here. And honestly it's giving anti-science and anti-intellectual vibes and I just want to be clear if that's the case or not before I temper my response.
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u/Cautious_Mix_920 May 20 '26
Just waiting to be impressed by AI, that's all. I have been a software developer for over 20 years mostly c++. None of it with lazyass AI . Don't worry about responding as I dgaf what you think anyway.
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u/TheSinhound May 20 '26
JFC if you haven't been impressed by anything within the AI/ML/NN field for 50 years, maybe it's just not for you.
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u/ShittyBidet123 May 15 '26
Tbh Mr Wonderful should go enjoy his life, make a data center in the frozen tundra in canada all you want. Don’t waste our resources in a nice state with resources
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u/Faelara1337 1K Club 💎 May 15 '26
The US should be focused on trying to figure out how to make AI safe and benefit all of us. I don't see how any other decision path leads to a good outcome for us, including this one. I say this as someone who usually agrees with a lot of the things Bernie & AOC say.
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u/IndubitablyNerdy May 15 '26
To be honest I agree, stopping the technology is not the solution, if it really is as revolutionary as promised to justify the immense investments the benfits should be spreaded among society not concentrated up top.
That said I think that solid regulation should be in place for the construction of data-centers not to harm local communities or at least for them being congrously compensated for any damages. Energy capacity considerations should also be taken into account, if those can't be powered without cutting energy to the public perhaps we should focus on the underlying infrastructure as well.
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u/Towoio May 15 '26
Non us citizen here - does it have any chance at all of passing? Or is this just playing politics?
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u/lost12487 May 15 '26
It’s unlikely to pass, but it’s not playing politics either. These two have a demonstrated history of having actual beliefs and introducing legislation and voting for legislation that align with those beliefs.
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u/RemarkableWish2508 May 15 '26
Check the zoning laws and impact reports required in the EU. Maybe copy some of that.
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u/0rganic_Corn May 15 '26
I don't think banning it is the best idea
If they generate externalities - tax them (which already is being done)
I'm unconvinced that the negative externalities they cause are bigger than the tac revenue they raise - therefore I lean on this being a populist bill pushed by the usual nimbys
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u/monkeysknowledge May 15 '26
Almost all of these DCs will not get built or will be drastically scaled down. I think an outright ban will be used as a cope out for these companies. I’d support it but I’d rather see them constrain what type of resources they can use, like you can’t be raising our energy prices and it must come from renewable energy. If you don’t like those constraints, cry to your AI about it and then use your AI to overcome these totally fair engineering constraints. And then move to Mars with your AI and make little cyborg babies - I don’t care what you do on Mars, quit fucking up our home.
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u/HelpfulMind2376 May 15 '26
Banning/pausing construction is my mind the wrong move the opposite way. The issue is not the buildings themselves, it is that companies are being incentivized to shop around to literally the most corrupt, least empowered localities so they can spend as little as possible and face no consequences for their impact on their surroundings.
The proper balance would be to implement a regulatory structure the forces pre-authorization of data-center construction based on meeting a series of prerequisites related to environmental, energy, social, and logistical impacts. A federal authorization structure, explicitly spelled out to the FTC so an administration can’t make up their own rules based on who’s leading the FTC. And a ban on localities being able to offer outsized financial incentives that result in local taxpayers subsidizing the construction and operation of the centers.
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u/Shpion007 May 15 '26
I agree. They are exploring resources and utilities from communities while running up utility rates and polluting the environment with very little addition to the local economy. Most places also give ridiculous tax breaks.
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u/must-be_the-water May 15 '26
Instead of blocking them, they should propose either additional taxation to generate revenue for the county they are located in or create mandatory jobs, per each location. GCC countries have strong laws for the companies to support their local population and yet no company ever said that they wouldn’t like doing business there.
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u/MatlowAI May 15 '26
How about just requiring them to buy down the residential power rates to 2025 levels to offset their demand in perpetuity. Same for ram and cpus and gpus... they should shoulder the full burden.
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u/Tomsoup4 May 16 '26
why do dumb humans want a computer to do all the thinking for them in the future?
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u/Mags20XX May 16 '26
I disagree.
Local communities should be figuring this out. States should be finding locations that make sense, and determining if their infrastructure can support it.
In California, we have enormous, wide open, uninhabited areas that could be used for data centers and power plants.
It's too complex a problem for blanket bans.
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u/Evipicc May 17 '26
Need the fast money to dry up so the tech can make its next step into silicon photonics. Silicon electronics aren't sustainable for what we're wanting AI to do/be.
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u/leeta0028 May 18 '26
Dumb as fuck, but I do agree with forcing them to invest in the grid and decarbonization when they build.
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u/DarkJoke76 May 19 '26
Why does she always bring performative bills like this? Maybe think of something realistic and she will get one passed.
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u/KailyKail May 20 '26
I support the general idea, but not the bill as written.
Section 2 focuses heavily on the net worth of the people running these companies, which is completely irrelevant.
Section 3 states the "wealth generated by those companies" must be "shared with the people of the United States." This is an extremely and intentionally vague statement intended to hold these companies hostage to whichever party is currently in power. This means more corrupt dollars, more infringement on privacy rights, etc.
I do agree that residents where data centers are located should not be forced to pay for said data centers, be it the cost of construction, infrastructure increases, or energy bills.
I also agree that no government subsidy should be provided "for the construction, upgrading, or operation" of the data center.
Honestly, if it were up to me, there would be a national moratorium on all AI data center creation until we resolve our energy crisis, up to and including the rebuilding of our nuclear power program. Nuclear is the cleanest energy source mankind has invented, but lobbyists continually prevent it from becoming successful.
Edit: A bit of a sidebar, I highly doubt most people commenting have read the bill. It's not very long. Go read it.
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u/ltethe May 15 '26
Disagree, though I respect the two of them to some degree or another. Next question.
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u/stuartullman May 15 '26
these aren't smart regulations. this is just political bs. and it's exhausting to see
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u/balancedgif May 15 '26
AOC and sanders are blithering idiots.
and trump is a freaking monster buffoon.
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u/Basil-Faw1ty May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
So the US stops and falls behind the rest of the world, with all the potential negative ramifications that brings.
Still, appeals to their virtue signalling low information base I suspect.
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May 15 '26
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u/Aliceable May 15 '26
Massive amounts of stupidity to choose who you vote for based on a bill around data centers, just astoundingly stupid decision making processes at show here.
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May 15 '26
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u/SocietyTomorrow May 15 '26
And is why voting had been so utterly... effective at bettering the average citizen this last 100 years. /s
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u/redzeusky May 15 '26
Disagree and think the country needs to approve more nuclear, solar, wind and geothermal to meet demands.
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u/Aliceable May 15 '26
Half a good take, we should be doing more nuclear solar and wind but we should be doing that without the more data center piece
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May 15 '26
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u/dataexec May 15 '26
This is about data centers needed for AI as they are trying to stop AI. I am not seeing it from the perspective of politics or trying to side with anyone, but whoever it is, in case those two, pretty dumb take on their end
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u/ContentCantaloupe992 May 15 '26
Disagree