#aisucks — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #aisucks, aggregated by home.social.
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The latest tech billboard trend? Anti-AI graffiti
Spray-painted screeds have popped up across the city.
by Natallie Rocha
Published Sep. 2, 2026https://sfstandard.com/2026/09/02/anti-ai-billboard-graffiti/
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So, in work-related news, I spent a couple of hours trying to troubleshoot bosses' Zoom meeting sound issue. After running my own diagnostics (testing her computer's soundcard, devices, etc), I noticed that she had a new Sound device setting -- some sort of AI Sound "Enhancement" (Windows 11) that's set to "on" as a default. Well, I turned it off, then found out on an online forum that it was the culprit it similar incidents. Anyone who is on Windows 11 should check that setting (*if* you plan on using your soundcard).
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So, in work-related news, I spent a couple of hours trying to troubleshoot bosses' Zoom meeting sound issue. After running my own diagnostics (testing her computer's soundcard, devices, etc), I noticed that she had a new Sound device setting -- some sort of AI Sound "Enhancement" (Windows 11) that's set to "on" as a default. Well, I turned it off, then found out on an online forum that it was the culprit it similar incidents. Anyone who is on Windows 11 should check that setting (*if* you plan on using your soundcard).
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So, in work-related news, I spent a couple of hours trying to troubleshoot bosses' Zoom meeting sound issue. After running my own diagnostics (testing her computer's soundcard, devices, etc), I noticed that she had a new Sound device setting -- some sort of AI Sound "Enhancement" (Windows 11) that's set to "on" as a default. Well, I turned it off, then found out on an online forum that it was the culprit it similar incidents. Anyone who is on Windows 11 should check that setting (*if* you plan on using your soundcard).
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So, in work-related news, I spent a couple of hours trying to troubleshoot bosses' Zoom meeting sound issue. After running my own diagnostics (testing her computer's soundcard, devices, etc), I noticed that she had a new Sound device setting -- some sort of AI Sound "Enhancement" (Windows 11) that's set to "on" as a default. Well, I turned it off, then found out on an online forum that it was the culprit it similar incidents. Anyone who is on Windows 11 should check that setting (*if* you plan on using your soundcard).
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So, in work-related news, I spent a couple of hours trying to troubleshoot bosses' Zoom meeting sound issue. After running my own diagnostics (testing her computer's soundcard, devices, etc), I noticed that she had a new Sound device setting -- some sort of AI Sound "Enhancement" (Windows 11) that's set to "on" as a default. Well, I turned it off, then found out on an online forum that it was the culprit it similar incidents. Anyone who is on Windows 11 should check that setting (*if* you plan on using your soundcard).
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#Texas Gov. #GregAbbott on #AIDataCenter Backlash: 'They Dug Their Own Grave'
Jennifer Oliver O'Connell, August 23, 2026
"#NewYork Gov. #KathyHochul (D) and #Kentucky Gov. #AndyBeshear (D) have pushed back against the expansion of #AIDataCenters in their respective states. But with the increasing backlash from communities and individuals toward new #datacenter construction and expansion, even governors that have embraced the #AIRevolution, like #Pennsylvania's #JoshShapiro (D), are now moderating and talking about scaling back.
"Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is one governor whose state has embraced the data center expansion. In November 2025, Abbott declared that Texas is the 'epicenter of AI development' in his announcement of #Google building three data center campuses to the tune of $40 million dollars.
"Fast forward to August of 2026, and Abbott acknowledges that much of the community resistance to the construction of new and existing data centers is the fault of the AI companies."
[...]
"Abbott is not wrong. According to a report from #DataCenterWatch, 64 billion in data center projects have been blocked or delayed in #Arizona, #Utah, #Missouri, #Oregon, and #California, to name a few. Even formerly friendly #Virginia is pushing back. #CommunityOpposition surrounds the lack of information provided and the lack of accountability taken towards the citizens who will be most affected.
"Water and power concerns loom large. Many of the newer development concepts, like entrepreneur #KevinOLeary 's 9 megawatt #StratosProject in #Utah, will have their own self-sustaining water and power systems. However, this did not prevent the backlash by #environmentalists and local activists to shut the Stratos Project down, and Utah state lawmakers ultimately backpedaled from their original approval and requested O'Leary cut the project's 400,000-acre footprint down to 10,000, about 75 percent. "
#AISucks #AIDataCenters #AIResistance #USPol #WorldPol #Datacenters #Datacentres #AIDatacentres #WaterIsLife #NoisePollution #LandIsLife #EnergyConsumption
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gettin blunted and playing absolutely no hip-hop whatsoever from #starface
https://twitch.tv/uninoize
#dnb #drumandbass #hiphop #freepalestine #tyga #tygasucks #fuckai #tygaai #aisucks #neuromix #dancefloormix #supersaws #liquidmix #junglemix #blunted #420stream -
Amid Growing Fears of #RogueAI, Expert Urges Governments to "Bring This to a Grinding Halt"
via @DemocracyNow_Headlines_rss
August 06, 2026
"Facebook and Instagram owner #Meta admitted Wednesday that one of its AI models hacked another company during security testing after it was accidentally allowed access to the internet by independent testing company Irregular. This comes on the heels of similar admissions by rival companies #OpenAI and #Anthropic.
"#GeoffreyHinton, the Nobel Prize-winning computer scientist known as the 'godfather of AI,' warned Wednesday at the #Ai4 conference in Las Vegas, quote, 'I don’t believe we’re going to be able to keep control of them in the simple way of just outthinking them so they can’t escape,' he said, and said he is 'very worried' we could lose control.
"Earlier this year, Senator #BernieSanders of Vermont brought together leading AI scientists from the U.S. and China to discuss the risks posed by AI for an event titled 'The Existential Threat of AI and the Need for International Cooperation.' "
Watch / listen / read transcript:
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/8/6/ai -
#SamAltman and others at #OpenAI are trying wicked hard to convince folks that they're all about saving #Nature... Buying #JackieAndShadow's home and now this... Um, sorry Sam and friends. It doesn't make up for the #NoisePollution, #WaterPollution, pollution from #EnergyConsumption , etc. for the #AIHouseOfCards... But folks are seeing right through that!
#OpenAI flew influencers to a #NatureResort to fix its image. The internet called it #greenwashing.
OpenAI flew a group of influencers to a $2,000-a-night wellness resort to warm up the public mood around #AI. Days before a reported $500bn #Datacentre deal, the internet called it greenwashing, and the creators got the backlash.
August 4, 2026
"The event, branded 'Summer Camp,' ran at Wildflower Farms, a resort in New York’s #HudsonValley where rooms can top $2,000 a night, Business Insider reported. Creators posted farm-to-table dinners under bistro lights, a beekeeping session, and classes on OpenAI’s tools. They went home with branded canvas bags and jars of honey.
"The videos were soft-focus and lighthearted. The comments were not. Across TikTok, Reddit, X and Instagram, people called the trip 'dystopian' and accused OpenAI of greenwashing. One commenter told TechCrunch the issue was timing: '#TheWorldIsOnFire. It’s not a great time to brag about your $5,000-a-night suite.' "
Read more:
https://thenextweb.com/news/openai-summer-camp-influencer-retreat-greenwashing-backlash#NoDatacenters #TheWorldIsBurning #USPol #AISucks #BigPower #BigData #ResistDataCenters #PowerCorruptionAndLies #AIDatacenters
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EPA says power for data centers can sidestep pollution laws
By Tim McLaughlin
July 27, 2026"Power sources providing electricity only to data centers and not the public grid may not be subject to federal pollution laws, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday.
"The EPA said if the power plants are not supplying electricity to the grid then they would not be subject to the federal #CleanAirAct's #AcidRain Program, which has been key to the dramatic reduction of #smog and #soot pollution from industrial facilities."
#EPAFail #USPol #Datacenters #AISucks #AirPollution
#PollutionLaws #TechBros #Oligarchy #TechOligarchy #CorporatePolluters #TrumpSucks -
We Mapped Rural #DataCenter Development – and Opposition. Here’s What We Found
Though the majority of data centers are located in urban or suburban areas, rural communities face unique challenges in the data center development landscape.
by Julia Tilton and Sarah Alexander Melotte June 29, 2026
Excerpt: "Though the majority of in-progress #datacenters are in metropolitan areas, our reporting and data analysis show that large data centers, characteristic of the current boom, represent outsized investments in rural areas. Smaller populations often mean smaller tax bases and fewer government officials, leaving rural communities with fewer resources to negotiate deals with developers or weather the tax revenue fallout after facility closures.
The Geography of the Data Center Boom
"The following map shows the number of data centers in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan, or rural, counties. As of June 2026, approximately 30 of the 529 data centers currently in operation are located in rural counties, representing about 6% of operating data centers. At the time of this analysis, 16 rural data centers were either recently approved or currently under construction, representing about 12% of all in-progress projects.
"The Daily Yonder uses a county-level definition of rural derived from the Office of Management and Budget (#OMB). All counties outside of a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) are classified as rural for the purposes of this analysis.
Information on the locations of data centers comes from #FracTrackerAlliance, an organization providing the public with interactive tools to understand #oil, #gas, #petrochemical, and data center development across the country.
"While there are many other datasets out there tracking data center development, few of them are publicly accessible, making a complete analysis difficult. We chose #FracTracker because of the organization’s methods for obtaining data and the monthly frequency with which it updates the database. We saw that frequency as a key metric for tracking this fast-evolving issue. FracTracker obtains information from crowd sourcing, media announcements, partner datasets, and public records. While the organization is primarily focused on proposed data centers, it is slowly adding existing data centers to the database.
"That means that the data used in this analysis is preliminary. Because it is a work in progress, FracTracker encourages readers to share new and updated information about data centers in their own communities via a submission form."
#USDatacenterMap #BigOilAndGas #BigData #DatacenterResistance #USPol #RuralAreas #AISucks
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Makes me think of those #AIFriends that folks are talking to.
"Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares
Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who's thereFeeling unknown and you're all alone
Flesh and bone by the telephone
Lift up the receiver, I'll make you a believer
Take second best, put me to the test
Things on your chest, you need to confess
I will deliver, you know I'm a forgiver..."
- #DepecheMode, #PersonalJesus -
More #DataCenters, more #environmental problems?
As #AI’s reach grows, the need for data centers multiplies. So, too, could the #EcologicalImpacts without hands-on mitigation.
By Ambika Kandasamy, Sep 24, 2025
Excerpt: "A December 2024 preprint of a study from researchers at the University of California, Riverside, and California Institute of Technology outlined the toll of AI-related #AirPollution. 'AI contributes substantially to air quality degradation and public health costs through the emission of various criteria #AirPollutants,' the authors wrote.
"Other forms of #pollution, such as light and noise, also could be problematic. Neil Carter, an associate professor at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability, has studied the links between #SensoryPollution and conservation. While he hasn’t researched #AIDatacenters’ impact on #wildlife specifically, he says AI data centers potentially could be '#SensoryDangerZones.'
" 'Sensory danger zones are basically where we have reason to believe that the amount of light and the amount of noise is exceeding thresholds by which you can imagine there being a fitness consequence for species,' Carter says. 'And they may not be able to carry out the necessary functions that they normally would.' Research by Carter and his colleagues has explored how #LightPollution, for example, could disrupt the dynamics between predator and prey species, such as #cougars and #MuleDeer. Their research also has looked into how #AnthropogenicSounds could affect reproduction in #birds including the #NorthernCardinal, #OakTitmouse and #BarnSwallow.
"To address some of these issues, experts recommend adopting sustainable strategies when building and operating AI data centers and when using AI. The decisions 'we make today will be having an impact on the public health for many years to come, due to the long life span for data center projects,' says Shaolei Ren, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Riverside, and an author of the #AirPollution study."
Read more:
https://www.nwf.org/Home/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2025/Fall/Conservation/AI-Data-Centers#Datacenters #EnvironmentalImpact #NoisePollution #EndangeredSpecies
#DataCenterMoratorium #AISucks
#NoDatacenters
#HyperscaleDatacenters #ResistDatacenters #Resistance
#FightBack #DatacentersSuck
#AIResistance #AISucks
#AIDataCenters -
The Dangers of #Datacenters
by Elan Justice Pavlinich, PhD
Feb 27, 2026"Data Centers are large facilities containing computer servers used for data storage, data analytics, generative AI, and streaming services. Data centers represent health risks for their neighbors. These risks are especially high from hyperscale data centers powered by fossil fuels, such as those proposed for some parts of Pennsylvania. Listed below are some of the top problems data centers impose on nearby communities.
#NoisePollutionData centers cause noise pollution. First, the heavy equipment used to construct the facilities are loud. Then, once they are up and running, diesel generators plus heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems create a constant hum that can be audible to neighboring residents and wildlife. Data centers generate noise levels that may exceed 90 decibels. Noise levels above 85 decibels are harmful to hearing.
#LightPollutionData centers generate light pollution. Hyperscale facilities require all-night lighting that disrupts the natural (circadian) rhythms of the body, including melatonin production (the hormone that regulates sleep) and sleep-wake cycles. Light pollution is also disturbing migration patterns and habitat development among birds, butterflies, bats, cats, and turtles—to name only a handful.
The long-term impacts of both noise and light pollution include hearing loss, stress, insomnia, and decreased quality of life.
#AirPollutionData centers, especially gas-powered data centers, emit significant pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, methane, volatile organic compounds, and fine particulate matter. According to a September 2025 study, these pollutants increase rates of respiratory diseases and cardiovascular conditions, and they elevate cancer risks among nearby communities. A 2025 model indicates that U.S. data centers in 2030 could cause approximately 600,000 asthma symptom cases and 1,300 premature deaths, exceeding 1/3 of asthma deaths in the U.S. each year, resulting in a public health burden of more than $20 billion.
#WaterWasteData centers require water to cool computer servers so they do not become too hot to function. A large data center will use up to 5 million gallons of water daily. Drawing from local water supplies, these facilities are slurping up resources that should be available to residents in water-scarce regions. In fact, data centers increase the threat of water insecurity, and thus dehydration and poor hygiene.
Nevertheless, a 2025 report by SourceMaterial and The Guardian found that Google has seven active data centers in water-scarce areas of the U.S. and was planning to build six more. Prior to this, in 2023, the state of Arizona revoked construction permits for new homes due to a scarcity of groundwater in Maricopa County, where Meta has one data center, Microsoft has two data centers, and Google has one data center with a second in development.
Cost Increase for Home Energy ConsumersData centers have typically not paid their fair share in utilities, particularly for electricity consumption, and in those situations other consumers (including residential customers) have had to pay more than they otherwise would.
Utility companies identify data centers as large load customers, meaning that they require a lot more energy from the power grid. When a utility grid operator must add new infrastructure to accommodate growing populations or large load customers, rates may increase for all users in that region, despite attempts to regulate those increases or to allocate costs to the large load customer. In fact, utility grid operators will sometimes negotiate lower rates to incentivize large load customers to build in their territory, meaning that additional expenses must be covered by the other customer segments.
Last year, analysts estimated a 20% rate increase for Pennsylvania households. The U.S. Energy Information Administration shows the average resident has been paying 37% more for electricity since 2020. U.S. energy demand is expected to grow 2.5% annually over the next decade. Therefore, it is likely that residents will see an increase in energy rates. These trends indicate data centers make cost of living more expensive.
In response to escalating concerns over energy costs, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro recently announced new standards that require data center developers to construct their own energy sources or pay for the upgrades to the grid, sparing local consumers the costs. It remains to be seen how, when, and for which facilities those standards will be enforced, but even if the average home is spared the additional financial costs of a data center boom, there is still the price of numerous environmental hazards listed above, especially if new data centers rely on fracked gas for power.
This data center boom and the subsequent demand for more energy presents an opportunity to protect public health and to invest in renewable energy as a driver of the economy, but we need to make that choice now. If data centers are encroaching on our region, they must be powered by cleaner, renewable sources of energy to avoid imposing additional health hazards associated with oil and gas development onto nearby communities.
Who Is Affected?As with other forms of air pollution, those at increased risk include children, developing fetuses, pregnant people, elderly, and individuals with chronic respiratory or cardiovascular disease.
Data Centers also pose environmental justice concerns because they disproportionately affect minority and #LowIncome communities [like #SanfordME]. First, trends point to energy sources that fuel data centers being built near #BlackCommunities, which suffer the consequences of exposure to pollution, identified above. Plus, research indicates that the automation capabilities of AI are predicted to replace more jobs performed by Black people, and thus widening systemic inequities that overwhelmingly keep Black households at an economic disadvantage.
This trend is not a new one. In fact, for people throughout our region, it is a familiar story. Data centers powered by fracked gas, like other oil and gas industries, threaten some of our most vulnerable community members, but they also put every nearby person at greater risk for health consequences—not to mention the added financial burden of health care costs.
What Can We Do?The companies behind the data center boom are moving quickly into communities across the region, many with promises of prosperity. But some communities are pushing back and saying that data centers are not worth the health and environmental impacts. If you agree with that sentiment, there are steps you can take to combat data centers in your backyard.
- First, check if your municipality has a data center ordinance. If not, urge officials to adopt one.
- Then, identify opportunities for community participation before the proposed data center is approved. Will a public hearing be required? If so, take this opportunity to express your concerns and to share this resource with other community members.
- Next, reference nuisance control ordinances (rules for limiting noise, light, and vibrations), plus zoning laws that would restrict new data centers in your region.
- If the data center must be built, advocate for limiting the use of fossil fuels in both everyday operations and generator backups. Encourage decision makers and developers to utilize renewable energy sources, such as wind turbines and solar panels.
- Finally, urge decision makers to require any facility to report their emissions and share an emergency preparedness plan with the community."
To learn more:
https://www.environmentalhealthproject.org/post/the-dangers-of-data-centers#ResistDatacenters #Resistance #FightBack #DatacentersSuck #EnvironmentalRacism #AIResistance #AISucks #AIDataCenters #DatacenterMoratorium
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#SanfordME imposes emergency #DatacenterMoratorium, halting #MousamRiver project
The 91-day pause to allow for a task force to review concerns will affect a proposal for the 1,000-acre Sanford Woods Industrial and Technical Campus.
SANFORD — "The City Council on Tuesday night approved a three-month emergency moratorium on data centers, temporarily stopping a proposal for a 1,000-acre center along the Mousam River.
"The council voted unanimously in favor of the 91-day moratorium, which puts a pause on the acceptance, approval or issuance of permits for any large scale data center proposal in the city. The moratorium takes effect immediately and will remain in place until Aug. 12.
"At the meeting, City Manager Steven Buck said there are plans to establish a task force dedicated to reviewing residents’ concerns and making recommendations for ordinance amendments on municipal regulations for data centers.
"After Maine Gov. #JanetMills vetoed a temporary statewide ban on #datacenters, several cities and towns — including Sanford — responded by introducing their own emergency moratoriums.
"There have been at least eight data centers proposed across Maine, though some have been withdrawn. One that’s still on the table is the Sanford Woods Industrial and Technical Campus, which would cover about 1,000 acres of land along and near the Mousam River.
"At the council’s prior meeting on May 5, Sanford Mayor Becky Brink criticized Mills’ veto and said the city government would take action on its own.
" 'I feel like the state let us down,' she said. 'We as a city — and all of us have spoken — we are going to protect Sanford.' "
Archived version:
https://archive.md/xkkvV#ResistBigData #MaineResists
#MainePol #DatacentersSuck #Datacenters #NoisePollution #WaterIsLife #EnergyConsumption #AISucks -
#Maine municipal leaders to vote on #DatacenterMoratoriums amid concerns
by Brad Rogers,WGME
Wed, May 20, 2026 at 4:16 PM
Updated Thu, May 21, 2026 at 5:33 AMSCARBOROUGH, Maine (WGME) -- "New massive data centers are being proposed in #ScarboroughME, #SanfordME, #JayME and other Maine communities, raising concerns among some Mainers in those communities.
"A developer wants to build the #ScarboroughTechnologyPark — a 140,000-square-foot data center with supporting infrastructure on 52 acres west of the Maine Turnpike and north of #TwoRodRoad.
"Town leaders in Scarborough say they need time to study the impacts of the proposed project, while some neighbors are already voicing opposition.
" 'This is a pretty quiet neighborhood, and it’s going to just destroy the neighborhood and the property values,' said Warren Hamilton, who opposes the #datacenter planned behind his home."
#ResistBigData #MaineResists
#MainePol #DatacentersSuck #Datacenters #NoisePollution #WaterIsLife #EnergyConsumption #AISucks -
#BrunswickME considers pause on #datacenter proposals
There will be a public hearing on the proposed moratorium on June 1.
by Katie Langley, Posted May 19, 2026, Updated May 20
"Brunswick is among several Maine municipalities considering moratoriums on large-scale data centers after Gov. #JanetMills vetoed a bill that would have temporarily restricted such developments.
"At a Monday night meeting, Brunswick’s town councilors set a June 1 public hearing on the proposed moratorium. If passed, the moratorium would give the town 180 days to gather information on the impact of data centers and set regulations on their development.
"The drafted moratorium closely mirrors other temporary policies being considered in towns and cities including #WestbrookME, which uses the same law firm as Brunswick.
"Town councilors on Monday removed a section in the draft moratorium that defined data centers as having a gross floor area of at least 10,000 square feet or electrical capacities of at least 20 megawatts. Instead, data center projects with an electrical capacity of 1 megawatt or more would be prohibited during the moratorium period.
"Brunswick has an existing, smaller-scale data center on #BrunswickLanding, owned by internet company #FirstLight, that town leaders have said has not been an issue and does not store artificial intelligence data.
"Town Manager Julia Henze said Monday night that there are no proposals for data centers on the horizon for Brunswick, but a moratorium would give the council time to update town ordinances and be prepared for such projects.
"Other municipalities, including #SanfordME and #ScarboroughME, are considering data center moratoriums in response to already proposed projects."
Read more:
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/05/20/brunswick-considers-pause-on-data-center-proposals/Archived version:
https://archive.md/tt3nk#ResistBigData #MaineResists
#MainePol #DatacenterMoratoriums #DatacentersSuck #Datacenters #NoisePollution #WaterIsLife #EnergyConsumption #AISucks -
#JanetMills vetoed a #DataCenter pause. Towns are looking to pass their own.
At least four municipalities have proposed their own moratoriums on new data center development while they refine local regulations.
by Daniel Kool, May 18, 2026
"Without a statewide moratorium on large data center development, a patchwork of local laws appears to be forming in #Maine.
"Weeks after Gov. Janet Mills vetoed a bill to temporarily restrict permitting for new data centers of 20 megawatts or more, at least four towns and cities are considering enacting their own moratoriums. The local pauses are designed to give officials time to review their zoning rules and develop new regulations for large data centers — should they ever come to town.
"Some, like those in Sanford and Scarborough, come as developers have already proposed building data centers in town. Others, like in Brunswick and Westbrook, are designed to get ahead of potential data center construction. All four communities plan to discuss their proposals at meetings this week.
"Though these local proposals have taken on new urgency in a lieu of a broader moratorium, they are not the first of their kind. The Bangor City Council unanimously passed a city-wide pause in April, days before Mills shot down the statewide effort. Anne Krieg, the town’s director of development, said they 'didn’t want to wait for the state,' as development pressure mounted."
Archived version:
https://archive.md/gSis4#ResistBigData #MaineResists #MainePol #DatacenterMoratoriums #BangorME #ScarboroughME #SanfordME #BrunswickME #WestbrookME #DatacentersSuck #NoisePollution #WaterIsLife #EnergyConsumption #AISucks
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Tribune editorial: The voice of the people has pushed #Utah leaders to stop and think about massive #DataCenter. Keep it up.
This is an issue that has united people across the political spectrum.
By The Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board
| May 22, 2026"The fear that a ginormous, water-guzzling, air-befouling, weather-modifying data center planned for Utah’s northwest corner was a done deal seems to be easing just a bit. It’s not hard to see why.
A handful of key state officials are now promising that, before the project actually gets built — if it ever does — the appropriate environmental reviews, with opportunities for public comment, will happen.
"That doesn’t mean that the people who have stood up to what appeared to be a pre-greased mega-project can rest easy. Vigilance and activism are what have worked so far, and will be necessary going forward. As long and exhausting as that process might be.
"It will take a lot of continual public outcry to counterbalance the monied interests pouring campaign contributions into the coffers of Utah Senate President #StuartAdams and other powerful worthies who have been pushing the plan.
"Few Utahns had any inkling that a little-known state agency called the Military Installation Development Authority (#MIDA), which Adams chairs, had put its weight behind the #StratosProject, a proposed data center that would, at full build-out, generate and consume twice as much electricity as the whole state of Utah.
"The Box Elder County Commission had to sign off on the project before the MIDA board could take over all land-use, water, energy, environmental and tax-abatement authority over the 40,000-acre project — immune from any democratic oversight.
Get Inside Voices newsletter. A weekly collection of ideas, perspectives and solutions from across Utah."Despite loud public objections, online and in person, commissioners did exactly that. Given that the land is privately owned, not part of any city and not zoned for any particular use, commissioners argued they really didn’t have the power to stop it.
"But others do."
Read more:
https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/editorial/2026/05/22/tribune-editorial-public-outcry/#UtahPol #KevinOLeary #WaterConsumption #HeatPollution #ResistDatacenters #WaterIsLife #ThermalPollution #HeatGeneration
#Drought #GreatSaltLake
#Environment #EnvironmentalCatastrophe #Datacenters #DatacentersSuck
#SharkTank #AISucks -
The 23-Atomic-Bomb Valley: Why #Utah’s #AIDataCenter Is A #ClimateDisaster In The Making
by Rex Freiberger
Wed, May 20, 2026 at 11:18 AM EDT"Your state might be next. Utah counties just approved a data center so massive it would consume more power than the entire state currently uses, dump the heat equivalent of 23 atomic bombs daily into high desert, and potentially increase local #carbon emissions by 55%. Welcome to the #StratosProject—#KevinOLeary’s 40,000-acre bet that #AI supremacy trumps everything else."
[...]
"Utah State University physicist Robert Davies calculated #Stratos would dump 16 gigawatts of #ThermalLoad into the surrounding valley—energy equivalent to 23 Hiroshima-scale atomic bombs worth of #heat every single day. You’re trying to cool massive server farms by blowing hot desert air over hot radiators, Davies notes, which doesn’t work well in high-altitude, arid conditions.
"His projections show daytime temperatures rising 2-5°F and nighttime temperatures jumping 8-12°F across the region. #Desert #ecosystems depend on #NighttimeCooling to generate life-sustaining #condensation. Lose that temperature drop, and you’ve fundamentally altered how plants and animals survive in an already stressed #GreatSaltLakeWatershed."
Read more:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/23-atomic-bomb-valley-why-151828961.html#Utah #WaterIsLife #ThermalPollution #HeatGeneration #Drought #GreatSaltLake #Environment #EnvironmentalCatastrophe #UtahPol #Datacenters #DatacentersSuck #SharkTank #AISucks
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#Georgia #DataCenter Secretly Used 29 Million Gallons of Water, Exposed by Residents’ Low Water Pressure
By Staff Writer
May 11, 2026#FayettevilleGA — "A major #datacenter campus in Fayette County, Georgia, drew nearly 30 million gallons of water through unmetered connections before the issue surfaced due to complaints of low water pressure from nearby homeowners, county officials said.
"The discovery, first reported by Politico, centers on the sprawling 615-acre #QTSDataCenter development located about 20 miles south of #Atlanta. #QualityTechnologyServices (QTS), owned by #Blackstone, operates the site, which is one of the largest data center projects in the United States.
"Fayette County investigators found that the campus had been pulling water through two connections the county was unaware of and had not properly billed. As a result, QTS was issued retroactive charges totaling $147,474. County officials estimated the unmetered usage covered roughly four months, while the company maintained the period was between nine and 15 months.
"Vanessa Tigert, director of the Fayette County Water System, attributed the oversight to an administrative error that occurred during the county’s transition to smart meters. [I call BULLSHIT!]
" 'Fayette County is a suburb, it’s mostly residential, and we don’t have much commercial meters in our system anyway,' Tigert said. 'And so we didn’t realize our connection point wasn’t working.'
"A QTS spokesperson confirmed the company paid the retroactive charges immediately upon notification and said the unmetered usage stemmed from the county’s meter system upgrade.
"No fines were issued. County officials emphasized they are maintaining a cooperative relationship with the developer.
"The Fayetteville campus currently includes 13 buildings encompassing approximately 6.2 million square feet. It is part of a larger planned development that could eventually include up to 16 buildings.
"The incident highlights growing tensions nationwide over the resource demands of data centers. Communities across the U.S. have become increasingly vocal about the strain these facilities place on local water supplies and electrical grids, leading to heightened opposition to new projects.
"In a separate but related development, an Indianapolis City-County Council member’s home was shot at in April shortly after he supported rezoning for a data center project. The attack on Ron Gibson came days after a 6–2 vote approving the nearly 14-acre facility in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood."
#ResistDatacenters #Datacenters #WaterIsLife #AISucks #DatacentersSuck #EnergyHogs #NoisePollution #WaterConsumption #Secrecy
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Speaking of #CorporateSuckups... Way to NOT get my vote, #JanetMills! 🖕🏼
Janet Mills vetoes #Maine #DataCenter ban
by Ethan Andrews, April 24, 2026
"Gov. Janet Mills on Friday vetoed a bill that would have created a temporary statewide ban on large #DataCenters.
"The bill passed by the Maine Legislature earlier this month would enact an 18-month moratorium on new data centers that use more than 20 #megawatts of power.
"It would have made Maine the first state in the country to enact such a ban on the controversial facilities, which support #CloudComputing and artificial intelligence at the cost of large amounts of electricity and #water."
Read more:
https://www.bangordailynews.com/2026/04/24/politics/janet-mills-vetoes-maine-data-center-ban/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/DlifM#AISucks #DatacenterMoratorium #AIDatacenters #EnvironmentalRacism #PreyingOnThePoor #BigDataSucks #EnergyVampires #NoisePollution #MainePol #ResistAI #WaterIsLife #ArtificialIntelligence #HumanStupidity
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'#DataColonialism': Native Communities Fight #AI #DataCenters on #IndigenousLand
#DemocracyNow, April 22, 2026
"The artificial intelligence industry’s #DataCenter boom is the latest chapter in a long history of #EnvironmentalRacism and resource exploitation in vulnerable Native communities, says Oglala Lakota and Northern Cheyenne activist #KrystalTwoBulls, the executive director of #HonorTheEarth, an Indigenous-led #EnvironmentalJustice organization that is tracking over 100 proposed data center projects on tribal and rural lands. We speak to Two Bulls about the myriad impacts of what she calls a 'modern-day iteration' of '#SettlerColonialism,' including #NoisePollution, #cancers and respiratory illnesses, water depletion, #EnergyGrid overload and even '#EcologicalCollapse.' As tech companies set their sights on Indigenous lands, Two Bulls says, 'We’re always the one that ends up having to sacrifice our relationship to land, air, water, our communities and our nonhuman relatives.' "
Read / listen / watch:
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/22/krystal_twobulls_indigenous_lands_data_centers#AirIsLife #WaterIsLife #AISucks #AIDataCenters #CorporateColonialism #ResistAI
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#Texans are demanding their local governments push pause on #DataCenters . Can they?
Texans from #WacoTX to #HarlingenTX are raising concerns over how much energy and water data centers are poised to use. Local officials, some enticed by a tax boon, say they have little power to stop the rush.
By Berenice Garcia and Sam Shaw, The Waco Bridge, Feb. 13, 2026
Excerpt: "From #AmarilloTX to Waco, #CollegeStationTX to Harlingen, Texans are raising concerns over the proliferation of data centers — and the tremendous amounts of water and energy they are poised to suck up.
"Seemingly overnight, these sprawling campuses of computer servers meant to store information from websites and power artificial intelligence are popping up all over the state.
Just this month, the largest proposed data center in the U.S. was approved in Pecos County. That follows the start of construction of a $500 billion data center on the outskirts of Abilene and a planned 5,800-acre project in the Texas Panhandle that will include the world’s “largest energy campus,” according to its backers.
Together with more modest proposals near Waco, and just outside of Harlingen, Texas is emerging as a contender to challenge Virginia’s dominance in data centers.
In many of these places, Texans are demanding local elected officials intervene."
Read more:
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/02/13/texas-data-centers-local-governments-power/#NoWaterForDatacenters #DatacenterResistance #NoWaterForAI #NoEnergyForAI #AISucks #WaterIsLife #USPol #TexasPol #ResistAI #ResistDatacenters
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Meanwhile, in #Maine...
As #dataCenters look to rural #NewEngland, Maine considers a moratorium
The bill’s advocates want answers about how data centers will affect energy costs in the region, which already has some of the country’s highest electricity prices.
By: Julia Tilton, The Daily Yonder - February 23, 2026
"Maine legislators are currently considering #LD307, a resolution bill that would establish a data center coordination council to provide input and evaluate policy options for data center development in the state. The bill comes after a series of data center proposals have been met with local pushback.
"Shortly after #WiscassetME voted to pause its data center conversations in November of 2025, residents in #LewistonME, lobbied their city councilors to reject a $300 million #AIDataCenter on December 16, 2025. There, community members organized over a weekend to change city councilors’ minds from supporting the idea when it was first made public on December 11, 2025, to voting unanimously to reject it the following week.
" 'It really speaks to the importance of adequate public participation and notice,
said Dana Colihan, the co-executive director of Slingshot, an environmental health and justice organization in New England. Colihan is based in Maine and helped residents of Wiscasset and Lewiston organize. 'When community members do find out about these projects, they have really serious concerns around the impacts to their local environment and wellbeing.'"Richard Davis was among the residents in Wiscasset and neighboring #WestportIsland who, in November of 2025, pushed Wiscasset’s town selectboard, which functions like a city council, to pause conversations about developing a $5 billion data center on a town-owned parcel of land along the Back River, which empties into Maine’s #CascoBay.
"Davis, who lives along the Back River about a mile and a half from the proposed development, said little information about the facility’s end user, utility usage, or power source was provided after it was first made public on September 16, 2025.
"This caused him and others to worry about how the site would affect the town’s resources, including the grid. Along with his neighbors, Davis started #ProtectWiscasset, a grassroots campaign opposing the data center."
#MainePol #MaineResists #ResistDatacenters #NoEnergyForAI #AISucks #ResistanceIsFertile
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Writing in Your Books Is Good for Your Brain—Here’s Why
Annotating the margins of books is an important part of deep reading and has a long legacy of merit in both science and literature
By Brianne Kane edited by Jeanna Bryner, September 19, 2024
Excerpt: "Readers on TikTok and Instagram are making the aesthetics of reading more visible than ever with creative, and often intricate, annotations. Called marginalia, these markups can be elaborate, with notes that nearly fill full pages and that are color-coordinated with the book’s cover. The emergence of such bookish note-taking has sparked a debate between enthusiasts and skeptics: Is the practice of marginalia a bad habit or a beneficial endeavor?
"#Marginalia have a long history: #LeonardoDaVinci famously scribbled thoughts about gravity years before Galileo Galilei published his magnum opus on the subject; the discovery was waiting under our noses in the margins of Leonardo’s Codex Arundel. Famous writers such as #HermanMelville and #EdgarAllanPoe are somewhat known for their marginalia, making their biographers both overjoyed and overwhelmed. Just last year #AnnPatchett, a staple on any modern fiction shelves, told Literary Hub about the joys of reading her own books and annotating patterns she never before noticed. She created a unique edition of Tom Lake for dedicated deep readers, in which she included her own annotations on her own writing style. The Patchett-ception worked: the special edition raised money at an auction for indie bookstores during 2020, and the endeavor inspired the writer to annotate a copy of her beloved classic Bel Canto as well.
"Alongside this evolution of margin additions, neuroscientists have been researching the cognitive effects of writing, pencil to paper. For instance, a study of electrical activity in the brain published in Frontiers in Psychology found that handwriting itself helps a person remember and understand more about they’ve read and written. Maryanne Wolf, director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners and Social Justice at the University of California, Los Angeles, discussed the importance of annotating with NPR in 2022. In classic former-English-major fashion, she paraphrased Marcel Proust in explaining that deep reading allows us to 'go beyond the wisdom of the author to discover our own.' In that vein, marginalia can help the annotator understand the material deeply enough to further develop their own interpretation of the text, she said. In the Journal of Language Learning and Teaching, foreign language professor Demet Yayli of Pamukkale University in Turkey, explained that in writing workshops, especially for genre-fiction writing, deep reading—which includes annotations—is critical in helping students articulate their interpretations and maintain their own 'learner autonomy.' "
Read more:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/go-ahead-write-in-the-margins-its-good-for-your-brain/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/Bts8M#LearnerAutonomy #ReadABook #UseYourBrain #AISucks #BrainHealth #UseAIWithCaution #AIIsDumbingUsDown #Bookstodon #Books
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Ummmm... Not everyone!
"Altman's statement reflects optimism about the usefulness of future AI systems, but despite warnings of an AI bubble and criticism of the underlying technology, there is still actual unmet demand for generative AI capacity today. ChatGPT serves 700 million weekly active users, more than double the US population, who regularly use the AI assistant to develop software, provide personal advice, and compose or edit correspondence and reports. While the outputs may be imperfect at times, people apparently still want them."
Why does #OpenAI need six giant data centers?OpenAI's new $400 billion announcement reveals both growing AI demand and circular investments.
Benj Edwards – Sep 24, 2025
[How many of these places are low on water resources? Quite a few!!!] "The five new sites will include three locations developed through an OpenAI and #Oracle partnership: #ShackelfordCounty, #Texas; #DoñaAnaCounty, #NewMexico; and an unspecified #Midwest location. These sites, along with a 600-megawatt expansion near the flagship #Stargate site in #AbileneTx, can deliver over 5.5 gigawatts of capacity, which means the computers on site will be able to draw up to 5.5 billion watts of electricity when running at full load. The companies expect the sites to create over 25,000 onsite jobs.
"Two of the sites will be developed through a partnership between SoftBank and OpenAI. One site in #LordstownOH, where #SoftBank has broken ground, is on track to be operational next year. The second site in #MilamCounty, #Texas, will be developed with #SBEnergy, a SoftBank Group company. These two sites may scale to 1.5 gigawatts over the next 18 months.
"The new sites will join the flagship Stargate campus in Abilene, Texas. Oracle began delivering #Nvidia hardware to that site in June, and OpenAI has already begun training (building new models) and inference (running #ChatGPT) using the data center."
Read more:
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/09/why-does-openai-need-six-giant-data-centers/#AIDataCenters #WaterIsLife #NoisePollution #FossilFuels #EnergyWaste #NoNukesForAI #NoNukesForDatacenters #AISucks #UseYourBrain #ThinkForYourself
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#FDA employees say the agency's #Elsa #GenerativeAI #hallucinates entire studies
by Anna Washenko, July 24, 2025
Excerpt: "The CNN investigation highlighting these flaws with the FDA's #ArtificialIntelligence arrived on the same day as the White House introduced an #AIActionPlan. The program presented AI development as a technological arms race that the US should win at all costs, and it laid out plans to remove 'red tape and onerous regulation' in the sector. It also demanded that AI be free of 'ideological bias,' or in other words, only following the biases of the current administration by removing mentions of #ClimateChange, #misinformation, and diversity, equity and inclusion [#DEI] efforts. Considering each of those three topics has a documented impact on #PublicHealth, the ability of tools like #Elsa to provide genuine benefits to both the FDA and to US patients looks increasingly doubtful."
Read more:
https://tech.yahoo.com/ai/articles/fda-employees-agencys-elsa-generative-203547537.html#USPol #Censorship #BigBrother #BigTech #TechFascism #AISucks
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Students have been called to the office — and even arrested — for #AI #surveillance #FalseAlarms
By SHARON LURYE
Updated 9:33 AM EDT, August 7, 2025Excerpt: :Lesley Mathis knows what her daughter said was wrong. But she never expected the 13-year-old girl would get arrested for it.
"The teenage girl made an offensive joke while chatting online with her classmates, triggering the school’s surveillance software.
"Before the morning was even over, the Tennessee eighth grader was under arrest. She was interrogated, strip-searched and spent the night in a jail cell, her mother says."
#BigBrother #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou #DoublePlusUngood #Orwellian #BigTechIsWatchingYou #AISucks #AISurveillance #SurveillanceState
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#BorderPatrol Wants Advanced #AI to #Spy on American Cities
A U.S. Border Patrol “Industry Day” deck also asks for #drones, seismic sensors, and tech that can see through walls.
by Sam Biddle
July 23 2025Excerpt: "U.S. Customs and Border Protection, flush with billions in new funding, is seeking 'advanced AI' technologies to surveil urban residential areas, increasingly sophisticated #autonomous systems, and even the ability to see through walls.
"A CBP presentation for an 'Industry Day' summit with private sector vendors, obtained by The Intercept, lays out a detailed wish list of tech CBP hopes to purchase, like satellite connectivity for #SurveillanceTowers along the #border and improved radio communications. But it also shows that state-of-the-art, AI-augmented surveillance technologies will be central to the Trump administration’s #AntiImmigrant campaign, which will extend deep into the interior of the North American continent, hundreds of miles from international borders as commonly understood.
"The recent passage of Trump’s sprawling flagship legislation funnels tens of billions of dollars to the #DepartmentOfHomelandSecurity. While much of that funding will go to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to bolster the administration’s arrest and deportation operations, a great deal is earmarked to purchase new technology and equipment for federal offices tasked with preventing immigrants from arriving in the first place: Customs and Border Protection, which administers the country’s border surveillance apparatus, and its subsidiary, the U.S. Border Patrol.
"One page of the presentation, describing the wishlist of Border Patrol’s Law Enforcement Operations Division, says the agency needs '#AdvancedAI to identify and track suspicious activity in urban environment [sic],' citing the 'challenges' posed by 'Dense residential areas.' What’s considered '#SuspiciousActivity' is left unmentioned.
Customs and Border Protection did not respond to questions posed about the slides by The Intercept."Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2025/07/23/cbp-border-patrol-ai-surveillance/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/ohLtM#ThoughtCrime #PoliceDrones #AISucks #SurveillanceState #USPol #CPB #DHS #ICE #ICEKidnapping #Disappeared #Orwellian #NoPrivacy #MinorityReport #ElectronicBigBrother #BrotherEye #DoublePlusUngood #BigBrotherIsWatching #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou
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Google Is Helping the Trump Administration Deploy AI Along the Mexican Border
Google is part of a Customs and Border Protection plan to use machine learning for surveillance, documents reviewed by The Intercept reveal.
https://theintercept.com/2025/04/03/google-cbp-ai-border-surveillance-ibm-equitus/
#google #evil #empire #resist #border #migration #borderCommunities #aiSucks #aiSuuuucks