内容来源：https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/902546/data-centers-ai-energy-power-grids-controversy

内容总结：

数据中心热潮引发全球争议：电力成本飙升、社区抵制与政治博弈升级

据最新报道，大规模数据中心正成为科技公司人工智能战略的物理基础，但这场建设狂潮已在全球范围内引发激烈争议，涉及电网压力、电费上涨、社区影响和环境污染等多个方面。

美国民众对数据中心的不满加剧

皮尤研究中心最新调查显示，43%的美国人认为数据中心是电费上涨的主要原因。民主党和共和党选民对此看法高度一致，使数据中心问题迅速成为跨党派议题。许多美国民众将家庭能源账单上涨的责任归咎于公用事业公司。

巨型项目引发社区强烈反对

犹他州近日批准了一项占地4万英亩的超大规模数据中心项目，预计满负荷运行时将消耗900万千瓦电力——超过该州目前用电总量的两倍。该项目部分由《创智赢家》投资人凯文·奥利里支持，尽管遭到社区强烈反对仍获批准。

佐治亚州数十亿美元的数据中心开发项目正引发两党反弹，根据Politico报道，47%的当地选民反对这些计划。专家表示，随着多个州经历AI热潮，类似的反对声音可能影响未来地方和全州选举。

环保与健康问题成焦点

美国全国有色人种协进会（NAACP）已对马斯克的xAI提起诉讼，阻止其田纳西州孟菲斯郊外的“巨像2”数据中心项目。NAACP指控该项目在未取得空气许可证的情况下运营27台燃气轮机，违反《清洁空气法》。NAACP环境与气候正义主任阿布雷·康纳表示：“让黑人和前线社区承担‘创新’的有毒后果，这是一种可耻的惯用伎俩。”

地缘政治风险升级

伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队近日发布视频，威胁美国在阿布扎比的OpenAI“星际之门”数据中心。视频称，若美国攻击伊朗发电厂，革命卫队将“彻底消灭”该地区与美国相关的能源和科技公司。OpenAI的5000亿美元“星际之门”项目包括甲骨文、英伟达、思科和软银的投资。

监管与行业应对

美国参议员沃伦和霍利已联名致信能源信息管理局，要求建立“强制性年度报告制度”，公开数据中心的能源消耗数据。这一两党共同推动的举措旨在确保电网规划准确性，并监督已签署《纳税人保护承诺》的七家科技公司履行承诺。

此外，纽约州议会正审议两项法案，要求对AI生成内容进行标注，并暂停新建数据中心三年。微软则探索使用高温超导材料设计更高效的数据中心，有望大幅缩小数据中心和输电线路所需空间。

行业巨头承诺“自掏腰包”

面对日益增长的反对声浪，多家科技巨头纷纷做出承诺。OpenAI表示将“自行承担能源费用”，确保运营不会推高当地电价，并将通过自行供电或支付电网升级费用来减少影响。Anthropic也承诺支付100%的电网升级连接费用，避免成本转嫁给消费者。特朗普政府则推动科技公司签署“纳税人保护承诺”，承诺自建或购买电力供应。

中文翻译：

大规模新建的数据中心是科技公司对人工智能寄予厚望的物理基石。但与此同时，这些堆满高耗能服务器的仓库在扩建过程中，也因其对电网、电费账单、周边社区及环境的影响，在全球范围内引发了争端。

从将数据中心发射到太空的大胆计划，到围绕污染问题的最新法律诉讼，《The Verge》为您带来关于数据中心的最重磅新闻和深度报道。

• 43%的美国人认为数据中心是电费上涨的主因。
  这是皮尤研究中心最新调查的结果。同样比例的共和党人和民主党人也认为，数据中心正在迅速成为一个两党议题，是能源成本上升的主要原因。许多美国人将家庭能源账单上涨归咎于公用事业公司。[皮尤研究中心]

• 尽管社区强烈反对，犹他州仍批准了一个占地4万英亩的数据中心项目。
  据《盐湖城论坛报》报道，位于博克斯埃尔德县的这个规划中的超大规模数据中心，全面完工后预计将消耗9吉瓦的电力——是该州目前总用电量（4吉瓦）的两倍多。该项目的部分资金来自《创智赢家》投资人凯文·奥利里。

• 数据中心正成为新的政治战场。
  佐治亚州价值数十亿美元的数据中心开发项目引发了两党反弹。据Politico报道，47%的当地选民反对这些计划。鉴于佐治亚州只是经历人工智能热潮的多个州之一，类似的反对声音可能也会影响未来的地方和全州选举。

• AI数据中心要建到你家门口了吗？
  这个免费的众包追踪网站是我们见过的、在追踪新数据中心提案方面最全面的努力之一。目前地图覆盖18个州，数据来源于公开渠道。您可以在此处了解“数据中心提案追踪器”创建者的方法。

• 数据中心很快将必须完成“强制性”能源使用调查。
  据《连线》杂志报道，这些计划是在一封公开信中披露的，响应了两党推动查明数据中心到底消耗多少能源的呼声。据报道，美国能源信息署计划在对得克萨斯州、华盛顿州、华盛顿特区和北弗吉尼亚州等数据中心密集地区完成试点调查后，在全国范围内启动这项调查。

• “数据中心不应成为社区健康的潜在死刑判决。”
  美国全国有色人种协进会正在起诉xAI，以阻止埃隆·马斯克在田纳西州孟菲斯市外的Colossus 2数据中心项目，声称该项目在没有空气许可证的情况下运行了27台燃气轮机，违反了《清洁空气法》。
  “这些公司试图规避明确的空气法律，来运行排放污染物和已知致癌物的肮脏涡轮机，这是一种可耻且熟悉的模式：让黑人和一线社区承受‘创新’的有毒冲击，”美国全国有色人种协进会环境与气候正义主任阿布雷·康纳表示。

• 伊朗威胁OpenAI位于阿布扎比的星际之门数据中心。
  据Tom's Hardware早些时候报道，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队发布了一段视频，威胁如果美国执行攻击伊朗发电厂的威胁，就将袭击OpenAI计划中的阿布扎比数据中心。该视频于4月3日发布在一个伊朗官方支持的新闻机构的X账号上，声称革命卫队将对区域内与美国相关的能源和科技公司进行“彻底的毁灭”，随后展示了一张OpenAI在阿联酋耗资300亿美元的在建“星际之门”设施图片。
  OpenAI总规模达5000亿美元的“星际之门”项目包括甲骨文、英伟达、思科和软银的投资。目前尚不清楚阿布扎比数据中心实际完成了多少，因为2025年10月的一份更新显示，这些将容纳16吉瓦计算能力的设施刚刚开始建设。更新称建设“进展顺利”，并将实现2026年部署200兆瓦的目标。OpenAI未立即回应《The Verge》的置评请求。
  阅读全文 >

• 参议员们正在推动查明数据中心实际消耗多少电力。
  据《连线》杂志首报，周四，参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦和乔什·霍利致信美国能源信息署，要求其对数据中心进行“全面、年度的能源使用披露”，并将这些信息公之于众。他们敦促该机构“建立数据中心强制性年度报告制度”，称这些数据“对准确的电网规划至关重要”，并能确保本月早些时候签署《纳税人保护承诺》的七家科技公司遵守承诺。
  美国能源信息署周三宣布，将在得克萨斯州、华盛顿州、北弗吉尼亚州和华盛顿特区启动一个自愿试点项目，以评估数据中心的能源使用情况。沃伦和霍利在信中呼吁的是更广泛的、强制性的数据中心能源消耗报告。
  阅读全文 >

• Arm首款自研CPU将于今年晚些时候接入Meta的AI数据中心。
  在数十年仅向他人授权其芯片设计后，总部位于英国的Arm发布了其首款自主研发的芯片及其首位客户。这款名为Arm AGI CPU的芯片是另一款为推理设计的芯片，即用于运行AI工具的云端处理，比如能够同时生成并处理更多任务的AI代理。首家排队使用该芯片的公司是Meta，据报道该公司在推出自己的AI芯片方面遇到了困难。
  Meta表示，它既是主要合作伙伴也是联合开发者，并计划与Arm合作开发“多代”数据中心CPU，与英伟达和AMD等其他供应商的硬件配合使用。亚马逊AWS、微软、谷歌、美满电子、英伟达、三星等Arm的客户在公告中附上了祝贺词。然而，去年秋天在就许可协议条款与Arm的诉讼中声称已取得“完全胜利”的高通，并不在其中。
  阅读全文 >

• 太浩湖因数据中心需求激增需寻找新电源。
  据CalMatters报道，面对“前所未有的时期”，内华达能源公司决定停止向一家服务于太浩湖地区4.9万用户的小型电力公司供电。根据内华达能源公司的说法，数据中心的请求正导致预期峰值电力需求增长三倍。

• 不断升级的伊朗冲突将如何影响数据中心和电力成本？
  在特朗普政府发动对伊战争后不久，我致电了大西洋理事会全球能源中心的研究与项目主任里德·布莱克摩尔，讨论其后果。虽然石油和天然气价格已经在上涨，但当时仍有更多希望认为冲突的影响可能是短暂的。在我们谈话的最后，布莱克摩尔直言不讳地说：“让我们（下周）再通个电话……届时我们对冲突的走向以及能源未来的故事将会有一个更清晰的图景。”
  一周过去了，自美国和以色列对伊朗发动打击并杀害最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊以来，冲突进一步升级。能源基础设施已成为这场逐步展开的战争中的关键杠杆点，以色列袭击了伊朗的燃料库，伊朗也在其自身的打击中瞄准了海湾邻国的石油和天然气基础设施。伊朗准军事部队革命卫队周二威胁说，“在另行通知之前，不允许从该地区向敌对一方及其伙伴出口哪怕一升石油。”据报道，伊朗还开始在具有战略意义的霍尔木兹海峡布设水雷，全球五分之一的石油消费和液化天然气贸易曾通过该海峡运输。
  阅读全文 >

• 七家科技巨头签署了特朗普关于防止数据中心导致电价飙升的承诺。
  来自谷歌、Meta、微软、甲骨文、OpenAI、亚马逊和xAI的领导人今天与唐纳德·特朗普总统会面，签署了一份“纳税人保护承诺”。这是他们对两党日益增长的担忧的回应，即随着科技公司和特朗普政府急于建设新一代AI数据中心，电价将会上涨。
  “[科技公司]需要一些公关帮助，因为人们认为如果数据中心建起来，他们的电价就会上涨，”特朗普在活动上说。“有些中心因此被社区拒绝，现在我认为情况会反过来。”
  阅读全文 >

• 特朗普声称科技公司将于下周签署协议，自行支付电力供应费用。
  唐纳德·特朗普总统试图在其国情咨文演讲中平息美国人对电价上涨的担忧——现在我们了解到他承诺的协议可能于下周落地。特朗普声称，他已与主要科技公司谈判达成一项“纳税人保护承诺”，这将使它们为自己建设或支付新的数据中心发电费用。据福克斯新闻报道，亚马逊、谷歌、Meta、微软、xAI、甲骨文和OpenAI的领导人预计将出席3月4日的活动，签署该承诺。
  目前关于该承诺的具体内容，以及如何追究公司履行承诺的责任，细节非常少。“根据这一大胆的举措，这些大公司将为自己新的AI数据中心建设、引入或购买电力供应，”白宫发言人泰勒·罗杰斯在一封给《The Verge》的电子邮件中表示。
  阅读全文 >

• Anthropic表示将尽力防止数据中心推高电价。
  Anthropic是最新一家承诺限制其数据中心对附近居民电费账单影响的AI公司。
  该公司表示，将支付更高的月电费，以100%覆盖将其数据中心接入电网所需的升级费用。“这包括那些否则会转嫁给消费者的成本份额，”该公告称。
  阅读全文 >

• 一场“冰末日”如何引发对Meta最大数据中心项目的更多质疑。
  唐娜·柯林斯住在距离Meta正在建设的最大数据中心约20英里的地方，她家已经在那里住了五代人。这项建设将路易斯安那州北部的这个小农业社区推到了聚光灯下，成为生成式AI背后的基础设施如何影响附近居民的一个典型案例。
  对柯林斯来说，这个地方是“一个小天堂”。“这是我作为家唯一知道的地方。它很安静，是乡村，很美丽，”她说。“我们无法想象即将到来的变化。”
  阅读全文 >

• 微软希望重新设计数据中心以节省空间。
  微软希望使用能让电流零电阻流动的材料来设计更高效的数据中心。如果这些被称为高温超导体的新材料能够上市，微软认为这可能会彻底改变数据中心及其所连接能源基础设施的建造方式。
  科技公司正因生成式AI的巨大耗电量、连接到缺乏足够基础设施的电网时的延迟，以及新建数据中心对当地居民的影响而面临强烈反对。高温超导体有可能缩小数据中心及其供电输电线路所需的空间。
  阅读全文 >

• 纽约州正在考虑两项法案以约束AI行业。
  纽约州议会将审议两项法案，要求对AI生成的内容进行标注，并对新建数据中心实施三年暂停期。
  《纽约基本人工智能新闻要求法案》将要求任何“主要使用生成式人工智能构成、撰写或创作”的新闻都附有免责声明。它还要求使用AI创建的任何内容在发布前必须经过具有“编辑控制权”的人类审查和批准。
  阅读全文 >

• 埃隆·马斯克正在合并SpaceX和xAI以在太空建造数据中心——至少他是这么说的。
  周一，埃隆·马斯克宣布他正在合并他的两家公司SpaceX和xAI，据称这笔交易价值1.25万亿美元。马斯克在公告中表示，原因是AI要想发展，就需要进入太空。
  AI依赖于“大型地面数据中心”，这些中心运行需要“巨大的电力和冷却”，这会给环境带来巨大成本并引发社区反对。解决方案是：太空数据中心。“从长远来看，天基AI显然是唯一能实现规模化的方式，”马斯克说。
  阅读全文 >

• 数据中心为天然气带来了新的黄金时代。
  美国正引领全球新建燃气发电厂的激增，这在很大程度上是为了满足数据中心日益增长的能源需求。更多的天然气意味着更多导致地球变暖的污染。
  2025年，全球在建的燃气发电装机容量增长了31%。其中近四分之一的增量计划在美国，美国的增幅超过了任何其他国家。根据非营利组织全球能源监测的最新分析，美国这一增长中超过三分之一预计将直接用于数据中心。
  阅读全文 >

• 微软获准在威斯康星州欢乐山建造15个数据中心。
  这些数据中心将建在以前属于富士康的土地上。

• Meta斥资数百万美元，试图让人们喜欢上数据中心。
  在2025年的最后几个月里，Meta花费了640万美元，在从萨克拉门托到华盛顿等全国多个城市发起了一场广告宣传活动，其明确目标是：赢得观众对新数据中心建设的支持。据《纽约时报》报道，该广告活动以聚焦Meta在爱荷华州阿尔图纳和新墨西哥州洛斯卢纳斯数据中心的短片、朴实的视频为主。
  广告声称Meta的数据中心创造了就业机会，振兴了农村社区。
  阅读全文 >

• 冬季风暴考验了因AI数据中心而紧张的电网。
  一场席卷34个州的巨大冬季风暴导致数十万人断电。冬季风暴费恩过后持续的严寒仍在考验着电网，而电网本已因大量新建AI数据中心而承受压力。
  上周末，拥有最多数据中心的弗吉尼亚州批发电价飙升。虽然在供暖能源需求激增期间，这并不令人意外，但它可能加剧民众对水电费上涨日益增长的不满，而正是这种不满助长了全美范围内对数据中心的反对。公用事业公司和电网运营商本已难以满足AI日益增长的电力需求，这使得在天气灾害前做好准备变得更加困难。
  阅读全文 >

• 微软希望在威斯康星州欢乐山建造15个数据中心。
  据密尔沃基福克斯6台报道，该村领导人周三批准了数据中心的计划，欢乐山村委员会“最快可能在周一晚上”给予最终批准。这些数据中心将建在以前属于富士康的土地上。欢乐山推进微软扩建项目，几乎没有遇到反对。[FOX6 News Milwaukee]

• OpenAI称其数据中心将自付电费并限制用水。
  OpenAI表示，将尽量减少用水，并为其数据中心所需的能源基础设施升级买单。“我们正在成为好邻居，”该公司表示，直接回应当前因电费上涨而对AI项目日益增长的反对声音。
  “我们承诺在能源方面自食其力，这样我们的运营不会提高你们的电价，”OpenAI表示。该公司承诺与当地社区合作，尽量减少其“星际之门”数据中心的影响。OpenAI没有具体说明，但表示计划可能涉及确保自己的能源供应或支付当地电网升级费用。
  阅读全文 >

• ICE突击检查Meta数据中心项目。
  周三，两名驾驶自卸卡车前往路易斯安那州里奇兰教区建筑工地的个人被捕。当地执法部门表示，ICE“从未进入Meta现场”，但告诉彭博社，探员们曾在工人前往工地的途中进行身份检查。

英文来源：

Massive new data centers are the physical foundation for tech companies’ hopes and dreams for AI. But the rush to expand warehouses full of energy-hungry servers has also kicked up fights across the world over their impact on power grids, utility bills, nearby communities, and the environment.
From audacious plans to launch data centers into space to the latest legal battles over pollution, The Verge has the biggest news and reporting surrounding data centers.

• 43 percent of Americans blame data centers as a major reason for rising power bills.
  That’s according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Similar numbers of both Republicans and Democrats also cite data centers, which are quickly becoming a bipartisan issue, as a major reason for higher costs.
  Many Americans hold utility companies responsible for their rising home energy bills[Pew Research Center]
• A 40,000-acre data center project was just approved in Utah, despite outcry from the community.
  As reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, the planned hyperscale data center in Box Elder County, when fully completed, is expected to use 9 gigawatts of power — more than double the 4 gigawatts of power used by the state right now. The project is backed in part by Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary.
• A political battleground is forming around data centers.
  Multibillion-dollar data center developments in Georgia are sparking bipartisan backlash, with Politico reporting that 47 percent of local voters oppose the plans. Given this is just one of several states experiencing an AI boom, similar opposition may also define local and statewide elections going forward.
• Are AI data centers coming to your area?
  This free, crowd-sourced tracker website is one of the most comprehensive attempts we’ve seen to keep tabs on where new data centers are being proposed. Maps are currently available across 18 states, with data compiled from public sources. You can read about the Data Center Proposal Tracker creator’s methodology here.
• Data centers will soon have to complete “mandatory” energy usage surveys.
  The plans, which were revealed in a letter seen by Wired, come in response to a bipartisan push to find out how much energy data centers are sucking up. The Energy Information Administration reportedly plans to launch the nationwide surveys after it wraps up pilot surveys in data center-heavy areas, such as Texas, Washington state, Washington DC, and northern Virginia.
• “A data center should not be a potential death sentence for a community’s health.”
  The NAACP is suing xAI to block Elon Musk’s Colossus 2 data center project outside of Memphis, TN, claiming that the project is operating 27 gas turbines without an air permit and in violation of the Clean Air Act.
  “By looking to evade clear air laws to operate dirty turbines that emit pollution and known carcinogens, these companies are following a shameful, familiar pattern: asking Black and frontline communities to bear the toxic brunt of ‘innovation,” said Abre’ Conner, NAACP Director of Environmental and Climate Justice.
  Iran threatens OpenAI’s Stargate data center in Abu Dhabi
  Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has published a video threatening OpenAI’s planned Abu Dhabi data center if the US follows through on threats to attack the country’s power plants, as reported earlier by Tom’s Hardware. The video, which was published to an Iranian state-backed news outlet’s X account on April 3rd, says the IRGC will carry out the “complete and utter annihilation” of US-linked energy and technology companies in the region, before showing an image of OpenAI’s $30 billion in-progress Stargate facility in the United Arab Emirates.
  OpenAI’s overarching $500 billion Stargate project includes investments from Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank. It’s not clear how much of the Abu Dhabi data center is actually finished, as an October 2025 update showed the beginnings of the facilities that will contain 16 gigawatts of compute power. The update said construction was “well underway” and would meet its target of deploying 200 megawatts in 2026. OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.
  Read Article >Senators are pushing to find out how much electricity data centers actually use
  On Thursday, senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a letter to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) asking it to collect “comprehensive, annual energy-use disclosures” on data centers and make that information publicly available, as first reported by Wired. They’re urging the agency to “establish a mandatory annual reporting requirement for data centers,” saying the data is “essential for accurate grid planning,” and ensuring the seven tech companies that signed the Ratepayer Protection Pledge earlier this month adhere to their commitments.
  The EIA announced Wednesday that it’s launching a voluntary pilot program to evaluate data center energy use in Texas, Washington, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC. What Warren and Hawley are calling for in their letter is broader, mandatory reporting on data center energy consumption.
  Read Article >Arm’s first CPU ever will plug into Meta’s AI data centers later this year
  After decades of only licensing its chip designs for others to use, UK-based Arm revealed the first chip it’s producing on its own, and the first customer. Dubbed the Arm AGI CPU, it’s another chip designed for inference, or running the cloud processing for AI tools like AI agents that can continue to spawn more and more tasks to run at once. The first company in line to use it is Meta, which has reportedly struggled to launch its own AI chips.
  Meta says it’s both the lead partner and co-developer, and plans to work on “multiple generations” of the data center CPUs, for use along with hardware from other vendors like Nvidia and AMD. Arm customers like Amazon AWS, Microsoft, Google, Marvell, Nvidia, Samsung, and others included congratulatory notes with the announcement. However, Qualcomm, which said it had achieved “complete victory” over Arm with a court ruling last fall in their case over the terms of licensing agreements, was not one of them.
  Read Article >- Lake Tahoe has to look for a new power source as data center demand soars.
  Facing “unprecedented times,” NV Energy has decided to stop selling power to a small power utility serving 49,000 customers in Lake Tahoe, CalMatters reports. Data center requests are driving a tripling of expected peak power demand, according to NV Energy.
  How the spiraling Iran conflict could affect data centers and electricity costs
  Soon after the Trump administration launched its war on Iran, I called up Reed Blakemore, director of research and programs at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, to talk about the consequences. While oil and gas prices were already on the rise, there was still more hope then that the impact of the conflict might be short-lived. At the end of our conversation, Blakemore said plainly: “Let’s have a call again [next week] … We’ll have a much clearer picture of what the conflict is going to look like and what the story really is going to be for energy moving forward.”
  It’s a week later and the conflict has only escalated since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Energy infrastructure has become a key leverage point in the unfolding war, with Israel hitting Iranian fuel depots and Iran targeting Gulf neighbors’ oil and gas infrastructure in its own strikes. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened on Tuesday not to “not allow the export of even a single liter of oil from the region to the hostile side and its partners until further notice.” Iran has reportedly also started to lay mines in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global petroleum consumption and liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade used to move.
  Read Article >Seven tech giants signed Trump’s pledge to keep electricity costs from spiking around data centers
  Leaders from Google, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, OpenAI, Amazon, and xAI met with President Donald Trump today to sign a “rate payer protection pledge.” It’s one way they’re responding to growing bipartisan concerns about electricity rates rising as tech companies and the Trump administration rush to build out a new generation of AI data centers.
  “[Tech companies] need some PR help because people think that if a data center goes in, their electricity prices are going to go up,” Trump said during the event. “Some centers were rejected by communities for that and now I think it’s going to be the opposite.”
  Read Article >Trump claims tech companies will sign deals next week to pay for their own power supply
  President Donald Trump tried to quell Americans’ concerns about rising electricity costs during his State of the Union speech — and now we’re learning that the deals he promised could land next week. Trump claimed that he’s negotiated a “rate payer protection pledge” with major tech companies, which would see them build out or pay for new electricity generation for their data centers. Leaders from Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle and OpenAI are expected to attend a March 4th event to sign the pledge, Fox News reported today.
  There are very few details at this point on what the pledge entails, nor how companies would be held accountable for following through on any commitments. “Under this bold initiative, these massive companies will build, bring, or buy their own power supply for new AI data centers,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in an email to The Verge.
  Read Article >Anthropic says it’ll try to keep its data centers from raising electricity costs
  Anthropic is the latest AI company promising to limit the impact its data centers have on nearby residents’ electricity bills.
  The company said it would pay higher monthly electricity charges in order to cover 100 percent of the upgrades needed to connect its data centers to power grids. “This includes the shares of these costs that would otherwise be passed onto consumers,” the announcement says.
  Read Article >How an ‘icepocalypse’ raises more questions about Meta’s biggest data center project
  Donna Collins lives about 20 miles from where Meta’s biggest data center is being built, in a house her family has lived in for five generations. Construction has thrown the small agricultural community in North Louisiana into the spotlight as a high-profile example of how the infrastructure behind generative AI could impact nearby residents.
  For Collins, this place is “a little piece of heaven.” “It’s all I’ve ever known as a home. It’s quiet. It’s rural. It is beautiful,” she says. “We can’t imagine the changes that are coming.”
  Read Article >Microsoft wants to rewire data centers to save space
  Microsoft wants to design more efficient data centers using materials that allow electricity to flow with zero resistance. If these new materials, called high-temperature superconductors, can make it to market, Microsoft thinks it could be a game changer for how data centers and the energy infrastructure they connect to are built.
  Tech companies are facing backlash over how much power generative AI demands, delays connecting to power grids that lack the infrastructure to meet those demands, and the impact construction of new data centers has on local residents. High-temperature superconductors (HTS) could potentially shrink the amount of space needed for a data center and the transmission lines feeding it power.
  Read Article >New York is considering two bills to rein in the AI industry
  New York’s state legislature is set to consider a pair of bills that would require labels on AI-generated content and would put a three-year pause on new data center construction.
  The New York Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Requirements in News Act (NY FAIR News Act, for short) would require that any news “substantially composed, authored, or created through the use of generative artificial intelligence” carry a disclaimer. It would also require that any content created using AI be reviewed and approved by a human with “editorial control” before being published.
  Read Article >Elon Musk is merging SpaceX and xAI to build data centers in space — or so he says
  On Monday, Elon Musk announced that he was merging two of his companies, SpaceX and xAI, in a deal said to be worth $1.25 trillion. The reason, Musk said in an announcement, was that in order for AI to grow, it needed to go to space.
  AI relies on “large terrestrial data centers” that run on “immense amounts of power and cooling,” he said, which comes at great expense to the environment and community opposition. The solution: data centers in space. “In the long term, space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale,” Musk said.
  Read Article >It’s a new heyday for gas thanks to data centers
  The US is now leading a global surge in new gas power plants being built in large part to satisfy growing energy demand for data centers. And more gas means more planet-heating pollution.
  Gas-fired power generation in development globally rose by 31 percent in 2025. Almost a quarter of that added capacity is slated for the US, which has surpassed China with the biggest increase of any country. More than a third of that growth in the US is expected to directly power data centers, according to a recent analysis by the nonprofit Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
  Read Article >- Microsoft gets approval to build 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
  The data centers will be built on land that used to be owned by Foxconn.
  Meta is spending millions to convince people that data centers are cool and you like them
  Over the last few months of 2025, Meta spent $6.4 million on an ad campaign running in cities across the country, from Sacramento to Washington, with a clear mission: win over viewers on the construction of new data centers. As the New York Times reports, the ad campaign is anchored by short, folksy video spotlights on Meta’s data centers in Altoona, Iowa, and Los Lunas, New Mexico.
  The ads make the case that Meta’s data centers create jobs, revitalizing rural communities.
  Read Article >The winter storm tested power grids straining to accommodate AI data centers
  The colossal winter storm that swept across 34 states left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity. Bitterly cold temperatures lingering after Winter Storm Fern are still testing power grids, already under stress from a rush of new AI data centers.
  Over the weekend, wholesale electricity prices soared in Virginia, the state with the most data centers. And while that’s not surprising during a spike in energy demand for heating, it could add to the growing discontent over rising utility bills that has fueled opposition to data centers across the US. Utilities and grid operators were already hard-pressed to meet the increasing power needs of AI, which can make it even harder to prepare ahead of a weather disaster.
  Read Article >- Microsoft wants to build 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
  Leaders of the village approved plans for the data centers on Wednesday, FOX6 News Milwaukee reports, and the Mount Pleasant Village Board could give final approval “as soon as Monday night.” The data centers would go on land formerly owned by Foxconn.
  Mount Pleasant advances Microsoft expansion project with little opposition[FOX6 News Milwaukee]
  OpenAI says its data centers will pay for their own energy and limit water usage
  OpenAI says it will minimize water use and pay for energy infrastructure upgrades needed to power its data centers. “We’re being good neighbors,” the company said, directly addressing the growing opposition to AI projects amid rising utility bills.
  “We commit to paying our own way on energy, so that our operations don’t increase your electricity prices,” OpenAI said. The company promised to work with local communities to minimize the impact of its Stargate data centers. OpenAI was not specific but said plans could involve securing its own energy supplies or paying for local grid upgrades.
  Read Article >- ICE hits Meta data center project.
  Two individuals who were driving dump trucks to the construction site in Richland Parish, Louisiana, were arrested on Wednesday. Local law enforcement says ICE “did not enter the Meta site at any time,” but told Bloomberg that agents were sweeping for identification of workers en route to the site.