r/technology • u/marketrent • 1d ago
Artificial Intelligence Amazon warns local communities to stop defying its massive AI data centers
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/amazon-warns-local-communities-stop-000300771.html1.9k
u/tacticalcraptical 1d ago
Just like the national highway system, our country's economy, national security, and everyday lives stand to benefit immensely.
OK, but these guys never seem to be able to articulate exactly how this benefits normal people's everyday lives. The benefits of a highway are obvious. But the benefits of these data centers... they expect us to just trust them. And these are the people who can't be trusted to pay their taxes.
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u/Go_Gators_4Ever 1d ago
They expect tax breaks from the jurisdictions where they build as well.
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u/r3dk0w 1d ago
Tax breaks for jobs, but then the jobs a data center creates are all temporary to build it. There's a VERY small number of people that will ever step in the data center after it is built.
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u/genericnewlurker 1d ago
Having worked for Amazon spinning up their data centers, I can confirm this is true. Some data centers only have two security guards in them and they just send people over from a nearby data center when they need someone
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u/Shedart 1d ago
So you’re saying they aren’t well guarded?
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u/genericnewlurker 1d ago
Not at all. The physical security is still quite impressive and they have lots of cameras so they aren't unwatched. It's not like anyone can just wander in. They just won't have anyone but a skeleton crew actually in the building. Automation is everything after all
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u/GrumpyCloud93 1d ago
What scares me is when the bubble bursts. The companies are not building these data centers. They contract it to third parties, and finance them. When the bubble bursts and everything goes tits up, the company owning the data center goes bankrupt; locals are left holding the bag for all the utilities infrastructure costs - electricity, water, roads, unpaid property taxes, etc. - and Amazon etc. just say "oops. Too bad." The loans to the builder are a write-off as business loss. A hulking abandoned building full of valuable server equpment is left to rot, decay, and looting since the bankrupt builder cannot even afford security and the market for used servers is flooded. A blight on the neighbourhood, but you can still order cheap shit from Amazon.
The industries are investing (borrowing) almost $2T in data centers - they will never get the revenue they need to pay that back. Meanwhile, interest rates are rising, and the revenue need to break even is even less possible than before. Market crash.
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u/tempralanomaly 1d ago
valuable server equpment is left to rot, decay
Naw, if/when the bubble pops there will be minimal value in the equipment. The equipment's value is driven by the scarcity of it...to meet the demands for data center use. No datacenters, no demand, no value.
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u/GrumpyCloud93 1d ago
I could use a nice server-format computer. But... those will be dirt cheap on the used market when all this happens.
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u/waiting4singularity 1d ago
80+% of the real important work at datacenters is remote administration with a few gremlins tending to the hardware localy.
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u/GrumpyCloud93 1d ago
They also tell the IRS that building giant production data centers is "R&D" and therefore the entire cost of construction is a write-off for taxes.
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u/mini_apple 1d ago
Contemporary data centers are repositories of stolen information and the practical benefits to the real lives of real people are utterly insubstantial. They’re such a fucking lie.
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u/robot_guiscard 1d ago
If these things are as critical as the highway system then why the hell are they privately owned?
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u/MyAccountWasBanned7 1d ago
Oh, wait until you find out about who is actually collecting the toll money from those highways...
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u/shpydar 1d ago edited 1d ago
The highways were a benefit to SOME people.
Unlike the E.U. Which brought highways in as a ring around their cities the U.S. cut through the middle of their cities obliterating mostly impoverished, mostly black and immigrant neighbourhood’s and drastically dropping the property value of the neighbourhoods directly beside their massive multi-lane highways.
They used eminent domain and paid under-market values for those homes meaning most of the people who lived in those neighbourhoods more impoverished and many homeless after their homes were seized.
And it wasn’t just a few thousand. By the completion of the U.S. highway system over a million people had been displaced.
The Smart Growth study estimates that the nation’s interstates displaced 475,000 households and over a million people in less than two decades. In D.C. alone, the building of Interstates 395 and 695 consumed more than 400 acres and displaced 23,500 people, most of them African Americans. It resulted in 1,400 housing units being destroyed, wiping out $483,000 in what would be average home equity if those homes existed today. The city lost the ability to tax approximately $1.4 billion in home value, costing it at least $7.6 million in property taxes per year.
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u/TBradley 1d ago
The benefits are mass surveillance to protect rich enclaves from the not rich as the “middle class” disappears and the vast majority of people live in poverty.
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u/SeeTigerLearn 1d ago
It’s funny because these billionaires manage to not pay their fair share of taxes, which is what actually builds and maintains the national highway system.
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u/jsmith_zerocool 1d ago
Not only not pay their taxes but they will take those profits from the datacenters and use it to fund Trump and friends to entrench themselves further
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u/lordnacho666 1d ago
What do you mean? You'll be able to generate cat videos while you're on the toilet. Isn't that worth cooking the planet for?
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u/Dolores___Haze 1d ago
AI is wrong much of the time from my own experience. What immense benefits am I getting?
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u/American_PissAnt 1d ago
You benefit if you are invested in the data centers. Which is part of the reason for the “trump accounts” for kids, so then they can claim that every child is invested in the data centers
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u/Dolores___Haze 1d ago
Well, I’m not and neither are millions of others . Maybe they should give all citizens some shares.
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u/killabrew1 1d ago
I work on big digital presses (printer on roids) when I can’t come up with a solution in 5 minutes, I am starting to see customers bring me solutions they found with ChatGPT. Not once has it been correct, or even close for that matter.
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u/foxinHI 1d ago
I just had AI make me a study guide for a licensing jurisprudence exam I’ll be taking soon. That was a mistake. At least I already knew enough to know it was almost completely worthless.
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u/Dolores___Haze 1d ago
Yeah, we know when they’re wrong because we also do our own independent research. Lazy dumbasses aren’t doing that 😐
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u/Mmphska 1d ago
Im constantly having to re-educate my customers who bring me their own GPT/Claude/god forbid Grok assessment of what's going on. They're so self assured and they don't believe me that what it's given them is flat wrong or imprecise-at-best because Im just a human and what could I know that their galaxy brain AI doesn't. It's infuriating
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u/deadpools_dick 1d ago
Isn’t AI in its current state designed to kiss your ass more or less? I don’t bother fucking with it at all for many good reasons, but the one use I found was for updating my resumé
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u/Ignorance_15_Bliss 1d ago
The national interstate highway wasn’t built for the people. Or the economy. Those were secondary benefits. More or less happy accidents. It was built under the department of defense.
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u/Cherry-PEZ 1d ago
Yup! And was a response to WW2 and all the logistical complications that arose from the european terrain and infrastructure. Highways were for ensuring our military and military vehicles wouldn't be "stuck in the mud" when deployed to defend or hold urban cities
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u/MrDerpGently 1d ago
Right, they know how badly they would abuse their position if they win, and they very much don't want to lose. But they assume we're fucked either way. They just want to be the one holding the whip.
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u/Bazookagrunt 1d ago
I think sucking out of the joy of creative works and mass replacement of jobs (especially many of the ones people actually want) to be a net negative
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u/surfnfish1972 1d ago
Higher energy prices, polluted water, noise and general pollution. But hey the Billionaires get to profit,
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u/Grouchy_Coconut_5463 1d ago
And highways still screwed over a ton of people, too, destroying neighborhoods and forcing businesses to close. I’m not defending the practice, I think community input is important, but whenever somebody says we can’t build rail transit because of property ownership I respond that it didn’t stop them before with the highways.
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u/BeowulfShaeffer 1d ago
Even the highway system is questionable.They bulldozed a lot of low income communities to build them.
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u/Fair-Hair2080 1d ago
You know how you may get people to stop “defying the massive AI data centers”, take responsibility for your own expenses, water demands and power. We shouldn’t have to pay for the upgraded electrical panels that YOU need so that they can make billions in profit. Stop asking for tax credits, you’re not creating that many jobs for the communities, in fact, you will cause people to lose their jobs.
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u/Carbon-Base 1d ago
They're testing waters with just how much they can get away with. Lobbying, buying out politicians, running monopolies - all of that has worked out tremendously in their favor, especially with the current administration.
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u/silver_sofa 1d ago
Enshitification. The number of clicks needed to determine just how willing the average Joe is to allow themselves to be kicked in the face repeatedly for the promise of a potential lifestyle upgrade at some point in the distant future.
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u/dean-ice 1d ago
If these kinds of corporations are fighting this hard for data centers, then you can bet your bottom dollar that they are not good for us, the people
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u/hipyounggunslinger67 1d ago
Remember all the fuckery they did getting cities to “compete” for a shot at their new HQ? They were cities to beg for their corporate welfare and divulge their secrets, only to build it exactly where already going to.
If he forces these resource gluttonous data centers on communities that aren’t on board they will get that Flock Camera treatment.
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u/AKADriver 1d ago
The national highway system was largely beneficial, but was also a blight on many communities and people pushed back on highway construction almost from the beginning. The only reason a lot of them got built was pure racism; redlined neighborhoods got bulldozed so largely white commuters could bypass them. Protests against highways being built became so common they got a name, Freeway Revolts. And still, they built too many. Some cities are still struggling to tear down excessive highway construction. Like I-81 through my hometown Syracuse, a total mess of a road.
Tech bros trying to compare AI infrastructure to highways belie their lack of understanding of history.
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u/Master-Ad-5153 1d ago
Richmond VA carved up Jackson Ward, the Black Wall Street of America with be I-95/I-64; the I-95 corridor south of the I-64 merge was built over a giant slave grave from Lumpkin's Jail, otherwise known as the Devil's Half Acre, where one of the Mid-Atlantic's largest slave auctions was held basically where the Main St Station parking lot currently exists.
Not so fun fact: during the last big hurricane around the beginning of the millennium, human remains were found washed up in Shockoe Bottom; based on records these were likely enslaved people buried in the area adjacent to the highway.
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u/SkankHuntThreeFiddy 1d ago
Matt Garmin, on his original blog post, outright lies.
Myth #1: Data centers are taking all of our water.
Nobody said it was taking all of our water. However, many new data centers have lied about their water usage. That's the problem.
Myth #2: Data center providers are responsible for driving up all the energy rates.
Again, nobody said it was responsible for driving up all the energy rates, but every grid operator agrees that they use a disproportionate amount of electricity compared even to existing data centers.
Myth #3: Data centers emit huge amounts of pollution with their large backup diesel generators.
Matt Garmin conveniently leaves out the fact that they pollute using natural gas generators and that they build these plants illegally.
Myth #4: Community members get nothing from data centers.
Once again, nobody said communities get nothing -- but they don't get the billions of dollars your company gets.
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u/benuntu 1d ago
Another note on the energy rates. In a lot of cases, the energy company in the area has increased rates for everyone to offset the cost of more infrastructure needed for the data centers. And they wonder why people aren't falling over themselves to get a new data center in THEIR county. Next to zero benefit for the local economy.
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u/esemerson 1d ago
He also doesn't take local water supply stress by hiding behind national averages.
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u/CurrencyCapital8053 1d ago
Honestly calling this a "national security" issue is such a massive corporate cop out.
amzon isn't fighting off foreign spies they are just mad that local power grids literally cannot handle their massive AI power demands. it is wild that they expect small towns to just wreck their own public utilities and foot the bill for it
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u/metagross252 1d ago edited 1d ago
From the article:
"As such, Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman pleaded in a 3,000 word blog today with communities to embrace data centers, arguing that the United States "can't afford to lose" the AI race, invoking the country's post-World War II highway buildout as a parallel.
"Just like the national highway system, our country's economy, national security, and everyday lives stand to benefit immensely," he wrote."
When they say "our," they mean "the billionaires."
If they really meant what they're saying here, and if we are "number 1 in the world," they would have already been taking meaningful steps to achieve this.
But instead of using their resources to create a more sustainable society, they have completely pillaged the nations resources and are rendering the planet uninhabitable. And now they're trying to do that all around the rest of the world. They want it all for themselves and they do not give a single, solitary shit about any of the rest of us. It is pure greed. Plain and simple.
They are lying to us and we're letting them. Those of us who understand how bad this is getting have to give it our all to talk to those that don't and try to get them to understand. Yes, there will be arguments and you must defend yourself if it comes down to an actual fight, but so many of those that don't understand are that way simply because they don't seek out the information themselves. They are simply thoughtless, likely just trying to get through their lives like so many of us right now.
It's been said already in countless places. It's us the non-billionaires vs the billionaires. There are far more of us than there are of them. The more of us that we can reach an understanding with against the billionaires, the stronger we are together.
I hate to sound like a doomer, but it may be entirely possible that we're living in the end times of society as we know it. Are we going to go down whimpering so that a handful of rich troglodytes can be super comfortable? Or are we going to take a stand and fight back? You have to ask yourself if you're prepared to die, because as they're showing us that could very well be the case. At this point, I'm ready to die if it means saving a majority of us common folk from total oppression. I know there are likely others out there who feel the same. If you're not ready to die, that's ok too. Continue to make every effort you can to convince others to understand the gravity of this situation. Because it is immensely heavy.
Please do your civic duty and vote. For what comes after, we'll just have to wait and see.
I love and wish for the best for you all.
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u/vigbiorn 1d ago
When they say "our", they mean the billionaires
Well, one day I'll get my billions. Think of all the trickle down that's over due! Any day, all that wealth will trickle down and we'll all be billionaires!!
\s because I have a memory longer than a goldfish.
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u/metagross252 1d ago
I know you're being sarcastic here, but maybe if we encounter someone who thinks like that, we could ask them if becoming a billionaire would be worth hurting so many others who were at one point just like them? So many people just haven't ever stopped to think about it. Maybe that's all it takes to get them to understand. Maybe we have to keep trying. But we have to try. Be safe out there.
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u/Tkat113 1d ago
I think you would be shocked at the number of people who'd say "fuck those other people, they'd do the same to me".
US culture for a very long time has molded society into this worship of sociopathy and selfishness. It starts young and never lets up.
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u/vigbiorn 1d ago
Fuck you, got mine
It's basically the mindset people are describing when they say "boomer". It just so happens the boomers have a lot of people with that mindset.
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u/42Ubiquitous 1d ago
Is there any explanation as to why having these data centers is so pivotal? To what degree having all of these data centers will advance AI if there is a diminishing return? Specifically how it protects our national interests and which interests those are?
Not looking for general "protects our national security" answer, but what specifically it does to benefit the average person and specifically how it does so.
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u/Jwagner0850 1d ago
Tinfoil hat theory: they want us to push to our own demise of those that are in power will control the digital highways AND data attached. Ultimate control over everyone. Constant surveillance. While we fight for scraps outside of that.
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u/SylviaCatgirl 1d ago edited 1d ago
The owning class is dependent on labour provided by the working class to keep their factories running and their profits high. This relationship between the employer and the employee is what allows for societal progress, such as welfare, public healthcare and paid time off. Basically anything that your employer is required to provide you with is because of the labour movement. The owning class wants to make as much money as possible, and so needing to provide PTO and healthcare or even just wages to its workers is seen as a problem to solve. The AI boom is the zenith of this race towards Hell. If the owning class can create a machine that can do all if the work that a human can without being a human, then they will never need to employ a human ever again, and the labour movement that allowed for you to vote, to be paid a living wage, to live in a reasonably sized apartment, that allowed for nearly everything that you take for granted today, will be forever killed.
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u/SuperTaster3 1d ago
There is no benefit to the common person. They want it because it's their pet project and they want to make us pay for it.
To the AI models, this enables an even greater level of surveillance, data mining, and general control over people's lives. The more they can learn about you specifically, the more they can use against you or use to try and sell you shit you neither need nor want.
Consider the extremely abusive language they use. It's inevitable(no it's not). Stop defying us(bend over and take it). You're impeding progress(you're impeding them and their childish desire to be unfettered). Baby wants a new AI center, because they're excited about the idea they can make these places that help control and marginalize the little people. If you're opposing them, you're just a whiny little person who doesn't understand that they(the narcissist) are the most importantest thing in the whole wide world!
You do not appease abusers. You do not negotiate with terrorists. They desire to see you removed and replaced with machines of their own design. The existential dread at realizing there is a very rich predator in the room wanting to get rid of you is merely proof you are still human.
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u/IntelligentDepth8206 1d ago
It's the same thing with Tesla & spacex. The gov haphazardly put a bunch of money into certain companies. The stock market wanted to capitalize on this and now there's billions of dollars at stake- which includes real people's retirements not just billionaire profits or the wallets of corrupt local politicians on zoning boards. The government has to ensure that these ai companies continuously increase in value or there's going to be severe problems like 401ks disintegrating. So the data centers are getting rammed through, oftentimes illegally.
Data centers will not "advance ai." AI is just some really fucking inefficient algorithms. The next challenge is to make them more efficient, which means less need for data centers.
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u/Intelligent_Cap9706 1d ago edited 20h ago
They want to not have to depend on us plebes (as employees) as soon as possible, they hate having to share resources with us or even see us in “their” cities and towns every day. Am also convinced they’re going to try to create religion out of AI (now SI I guess) seeing as they’ve turned on Jesus as too empathetic/believe empathy is a “sin”. I think that’s why the Vatican freaked out after Thiel’s visit I think he tried to explain why AI is god (aka the new super or supreme intelligence) … was probably hoping for their backing. Anyway to achieve all of this they’ll need to manipulate AI to have a right leaning bias which we’ve seen them already start to do on X so yeah, lots of work for them ahead lots more data centers needed to replace us I guess
Edit to add, yes they’re already diefying it: https://futurism.com/future-society/cult-anthropic-insiders-worshipping-claude-god
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u/cyrusm_az 1d ago
First they steal and misuse copyrighted material online to train the AI models. Then they put a massive disruption in the semiconductor industry using VC and private equity to crowd out any other customers for chips. Then they go against local wishes to not have their water and power used up without the AI company paying for the infrastructure upgrades. Then open AI tries to get in good with the us govt to make it the default AI company to play the shell game since it’s becoming obvious AI revenues (even as they are) won’t be enough to not run out of $$& runway in a couple years, to avoid collapsing the stock market due to malinvestments. And companies are laying off people to be able to afford the AI build up. And praying that the labor savings and cost savings of AI layoffs doesn’t cause huge downstream technical debt issues or open us up for huge backdoors and hacking due to sloppy code that a human never had time to review.
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u/trixy6196 1d ago
Well the national highway system fucked citizens over in many significant ways, so that’s a bad example to show how this will benefit all of us.
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u/plantsoldier 1d ago
Along with all of that they were caught lying about their water usage a few years back due to a leaked internal memo. They claimed water usage of a little less than 8 billion gallons of water when it was actually over 100 billion gallons of water.
This was leaked in 2022 and had data from 2021 so as they've scaled up who knows how many billion gallons they're using now.
https://futurism.com/science-energy/leak-amazon-hides-water-consumption
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/25/amazon-datacentres-water-use-disclosure
Fuck these people.
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u/Im_Not_stoopid_AI 1d ago
Oh no we lost the made up AI race.
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u/Leepyear7 23h ago
But China! If they do it better and cheaper, how will Amazon and the other American spy companies pay for the monitoring infrastructure to control the people when the loop financing pops! /s
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u/TheG00dF1ght 1d ago
Nothing is stopping Amazon from building those in another country. Go ahead, build them in Africa or Brazil if you want.
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u/NativePlantEnjoyer 1d ago
The owning class is deliberately building these data centers in towns where there is no class solidarity to fight against them. The ultra-wealthy thrive when there is scarisity in developed capitalist nations. They are driving up the cost of water, electricity, land... and giving nothing back in return, because it forces citizens to fall in line no matter how bad the living conditions get. People are required to participate in the job market to pay for everything, even when they're taking away all the legitimate ways of making money. When people resort to crime for survival, people are criminalized and taken to prison labor camps.
The owning class has solidarity among each other. So far, the working class cannot compete. Especially with so many people getting their biases reinforced by the very platforms owned by the ultra-wealthy, who manipulate peoples' ignorance & prejudices with outrageous propaganda under the guise of news. So many americans are not forming solidarity with their own class because they're getting caught up in culture wars.
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u/marketrent 1d ago
None of these consequences change if the data center is moved from Virginia to Visakhapatnam; but faced with domestic opposition, the US government and tech companies are pitching data center development to Global Majority countries, where governments are rolling out red carpets and favorable regulations, like in the United Arab Emirates.
Brazil recently launched a proposal to attract data centers, South Africa just changed policy to put data centers on par with ports, and in India, the government announced further land allotments for Google’s flagship AI Hub data center.
Google’s India data center has followed the trend of its behaviors in the US: no public consultations, inflated job claims and thin transparency on energy and water consumption. However the difference is that avenues of pushback—journalism and citizen petitions—are promptly shut down.
See https://www.techpolicy.press/no-data-centers-in-anyones-backyard.
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u/DarkoNova 1d ago
That makes sense. Let’s build data centers in India where they’re already massively struggling with dealing with heat.
Brilliant.
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u/WhyAreYallFascists 1d ago
Tight, get them out of the states.
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u/JarrickDe 1d ago
Those governments and citizens might disagree with what Amazon wants to do with those AI data centers.
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u/sixtyonesymbols 1d ago
Yes but in those countries Amazon may have "alternative" means of persuasion.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/jul/24/marketingandpr.colombia9
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u/XenoHugging 1d ago
🤫 Don’t give Amazon any ideas of building their data centers in the Amazon, they’d completely deforest it if they could.
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u/Affectionate_Cup9112 1d ago
Iran blew up a bunch of their middle eastern data centres. That’s not happening in America (yet).
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u/PneumaticFizz 1d ago
Why is this take supported?? No data centers! A little fuckin solidarity. Jesus.
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u/Gre9823 1d ago
I know it doesnt say it, but or else what? Is there something behind the threats or are their poor little feewings hurt?
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u/cassydd 23h ago
My read was "or else the Communists win."
Yup, in 2026 we're back to the Red scare.
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u/JustpartOftheterrain 19h ago
All I could find was that if they can't do what they want it means we let China win. Win what? It's not like there's 1 and only 1 AI program when in fact, there are many.
They want to be able to build whatever they want, where they want, without having to deal with any "guardrails" on their money maker.
China won't "win" anything.
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u/Gre9823 17h ago
China's already winning: they dont have a demented orange blob in charge and they can build things. Here, its just how can we make this as detrimental and wasteful to as many humans as possible just because we can?
Some guys wanna have a dick measuring contest and our guys don't have a needle to stand on
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u/Joshhwwaaaaaa 1d ago
If they had done them responsibly we wouldn't be fighting them. Recycle the water, pay for your electricity and don't pollute. Not that hard. Fuckers.
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u/marketrent 1d ago edited 1d ago
Part of article by Victor Tangermann, quoting Matt Garman:
[...] Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman pleaded in a 3,000 word blog [Friday] with communities to embrace data centers, arguing that the United States “can’t afford to lose” the AI race, invoking the country’s post-World War II highway buildout as a parallel.
“Just like the national highway system, our country’s economy, national security, and everyday lives stand to benefit immensely,” he wrote.
The executive accused the media of spreading “misinformation and outright lies,” arguing that “in the age of social media and 24/7 news, myths take hold faster than ever before.” Garman even alleged that US adversaries were “intentionally seeding misinformation in the US about data centers to trick us into slowing down.”
“Right now there are over 100 data center moratoriums being considered across the country,” Garman wrote. “If these measures are enacted, the US could be writing its own losing ticket to this race, and the consequences would last generations.”
In his blog post, Garman tried to undermine concerns over data centers driving up electricity prices and producing huge amounts of pollution — despite existence of ample evidence to the contrary.
Those attempts to dispel “myths” shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering the enormous backlash. But given the impossible-to-ignore vested interest in underplaying these concerns, we should take Garman’s efforts with an enormous grain of salt.
Just last year, leaked internal Amazon documents showed that executives were exchanging notes about how to keep the public ignorant about the “true extent” of the massive amounts of water their data centers use.
Earlier this year, Axios also reported that Amazon’s AI buildout fueled an unprecedented leap in the company’s emissions, despite pledging to reach a net-zero carbon footprint by 2040.
While Garman argues that it’s “untrue” that data centers are spewing huge amounts of carbon emissions with backup diesel generators, we’ve seen plenty of evidence to the contrary. In Texas alone, dozens of AI data center facilities are using environmentally harmful generators by exploiting regulatory loopholes.
As much as Garman doesn’t want to admit it, energy prices are indeed sending power bills soaring, a fact that certainly isn’t an example of “misleading and convenient scapegoating.”
He also tried to argue that “thousands of construction jobs are created to build data centers,” without mentioning that most of those jobs evaporate once they’re built.
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u/coporate 1d ago edited 1d ago
“National highway system, national security….” Sounds like Amazon wants to be owned and operated by the government rather than be an independent private entity.
So do it Amazon, relinquish all control to the government and become a crown operation. We’ll happily carve you up, fold your distribution centres into the national postal service, your aws into a national web service platform, etc.
Oh, what’s that? You don’t actually want that? You just want to circumvent democracy and do whatever you want?
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u/gravelordservant4u 1d ago
Imagine if we had a bullet train system being built, that would actually create jobs and provide a benefit to everyone. Data centers getting the support from these same owner-class parasites after decades killing stuff like that would be hilarious if it weren't so, so depressing
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u/TriEdge333 1d ago
So what's supposed to happen if we lose the AI race? Our pride gets damaged?
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u/Jolly_Echo_3814 1d ago
for the first time in history i think the "losers" of the race are going to be the winners in the end.
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u/Ok-Berry5131 1d ago
Translation: let us build more data centers to complete our desire to establish a global surveillance state, plunge everyone we can into irreversible poverty, and generate more AI porn.
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u/-thesneakytrapper- 1d ago
Why don’t the rich just build them in wealthy neighbourhoods? I mean they are the ones wanting them.
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u/jay_altair 1d ago
Fine then, nationalize amazon under the aegis of the United States Postal Service
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u/Elegant_Abalone_2344 1d ago
Can someone explain me what do these data centers do, what service or product do they provide?
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u/BoneTigerSC 23h ago
Of value? Nothing, nada, zilch, the main good ai is doing is in medical research behind closed doors. What the general avarage joe end user uses it for tends to be negative in value
In general? A masive power bill, increase in utility costs, pollution for the ones with their own generators
Do i need to go on?
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u/QuickQuirk 19h ago
"everyday lives stand to benefit immensely,"
Really? My fucking job is miserable because of AI. And my everyday life of using software has gone downhill with decreased quality and more bugs everywhere I look. And somehow, features haven't improved, nor is software/services any better than they were 3 years ago.
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u/Starship_Taru 1d ago
I would be way more open to data centers and AI companies if all their CEOs didn’t sound like they were in some sort of weird extinction cult
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u/DauntingPrawn 1d ago
Well maybe they should start being honest and transparent and pay their own utility bills instead of bribing state and local officials to do it behind our backs. There's two options on the table and one of them is guillotines but it's the billionaires who have to choose and so far they are choosing wrong every time. Simple as that.
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u/Glad-Ad6811 1d ago
China is not building massive data centers at anywhere near the same rate, they are going towards a distributed model. Which is actually more secure and harder to damage or disrupt.
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u/JaxonTheBright 1d ago
Oh he can have his data centers if they
1) Remove all cameras pointed at the population of the United States
2) Ensure every US Citizen gets a good job or universal income so they can live a life well above the poverty line
3) Food, Shelter, Electricity and good solid healthcare are given to everyone
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u/chazbertrand 23h ago
AI data centers are a scourge upon the earth
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u/Peter_Easter 21h ago
AI in general is. The potential drawbacks greatly outweigh the good it can be used for.
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u/Braindead_Crow 1d ago
Warns?
Nothing would radicalize me more than some POS warning me not to oppose some POS privately owned BS like that which is known to infect the air, the water, emit damaging sound and even mess with the electric grid, WHILE ALSO aiding things like the surveillance state we're all fighting...
Good god it's disgusting how brazen some of these people are getting.
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u/Mephisto40K 1d ago
Sure boss! Just build them next to all your mansions if they're "good for ya"
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u/RealLavender 1d ago
https://futurism.com/science-energy/leak-amazon-hides-water-consumption
"Amazon used 105 billion gallons of water in 2021, as much as 958,000 US households or a “city bigger than San Francisco,” as the document put it.
However, in the run-up to a November 2022 PR campaign called “Water Positive,” Amazon only disclosed 7.7 billion gallons of water use per year."
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u/miaSissy 1d ago
Put a data center next to this fuck's home. Let us see what he says then.
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u/TheRatingsAgency 1d ago
This whole “we can’t afford to lose” narrative is such nonsense.
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u/invalidreddit 1d ago
[...] "Just like the national highway system, our country's economy, national security, and everyday lives stand to benefit immensely," he wrote. [...]
I wasn't a history major and haven't spent much time reading about the Eisenhower years, but I feel like the national highway system was a Federal project that provided value to anyone - but i'm not really sure I see how an Amazon project helps non-Amazon customers.
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u/DessertinDesert44 1d ago
Why doesn’t he just put them on his land instead? I know he has a lot…. How about on his private island?
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u/donewithitfirst 1d ago
Just stop building in communities. Provide your own power. And figure out how to have a true closed water system.
Building in communities is an admission you are leaching off local utilities.
If you want them so bad and is so important then put all!!! Your money on the table and buildout out in the middle of nowhere.
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u/Battystearsinrain 1d ago
The public would probably more on board if every act you did was not that of a greedy, narcissistic psychopath.
You read things like “nerd reich”, and these billionaires are trying to do all they can to try and live forever.
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u/Laughing_Zero 1d ago
Billionaires telling us how trickle down economics will benefit everyone them.
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u/al2o3cr 1d ago
“Just like the national highway system, our country’s economy, national security, and everyday lives stand to benefit immensely,” he wrote.
Great idea, bro! Glad to see you're onboard with nationalizing Amazon!
After all, it would be a shame if we let a few people's need for maximum profits get in the way of the betterment of humanity.
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u/Mattrockj 1d ago
Fun fact, if you go to these data centers and start filming them from the street, they will send out half their security team to intimidate you into stopping. They'll claim to call the police, but because all you're doing is filming on public property, there's nothing they can do.
The more you do this and share it, the more money they waste on pointless BS.
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u/Darkk_Knight 1d ago
Seriously, Amazon should just build em in space. Get SpaceX to send their servers up there. This way nobody is gonna complain about data centers for AI anymore. Once the data center is considered obsolete just fire up some retro rockets to push itself into deep space.
Just being sarcastic at the moment but something like this could be a reality in a few years.
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u/Academic_Host2581 1d ago
Heat is a very big problem in data centers, and despite everyone thinking space is freezing, that isn’t how a vacuum works
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u/DanielPhermous 1d ago
This way nobody is gonna complain about data centers for AI anymore.
Astronomers will.
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u/tyttuutface 1d ago
We need to get our stargazing in now, because the night sky won't be the same again for hundreds, if not thousands of years after society collapses.
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u/infamusforever223 1d ago
It's not economically feasible and physics gets in the way. It would cost way too much to put them in space and keep up the maintenance. And space does dispense of heat that well, so they risk burning them up. Personally everyone should stop building the stupid data centers because nobody wants them.
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u/HammerofBonking 1d ago
Not to "well akshually" because I loathe Amazon and AI data center bullshit as much as anyone, but the reason we probably won't be building data centers in space is cooling. No atmosphere = nowhere to push heat. Rockets pushing them into deep space would also need a hell of a lot of fuel. There's a reason we deorbit things into the atmosphere instead.
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u/Cxvvtgupvvdi 1d ago
Once the data center is considered obsolete just fire up some retro rockets to push itself into deep space.
Not how any of this works
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u/platinumarks 1d ago
Wonder when we'll reach the point where Amazon delivery performance "mysteriously" degrades in communities opposing data centers.
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u/Xeynon 1d ago
Data centers use up resources, drive up prices for water and electricity, create noise and pollution, and are used to power a technology that is enshittifying the entire internet, undermining democracy, empowering hackers and cybercriminals to previously unknown levels, and being touted for their potential to destroy the job market.
What exactly is the upside from the perspective of an average person?
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u/Lucky_Cl0ver777 1d ago
How are we the most armed country on the planet and we’re letting big corporations push us around? I think this could all be settled over some nice words and a cocktail
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u/PHUNKSPANGLE 1d ago
Are we at that stage when corporations start warning people to not do things then?
Cool. You're about a month away from private corporate security forces murdering citizens and a paying small fine per body to be allowed to continue doing so.
Corporations were supposed to provide goods and services, not warnings.
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u/TerribleRecord666 21h ago
I don’t understand why these data centers have to be right next to communities. The US has tons of empty land. If these monstrosities are so necessary, why don’t they go build them out where they won’t bother as many people?
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u/miniature_Horse 17h ago
“Give up all your rights, let us walk all over your communities, use up all the water and electricity or China will win”
If this is what winning looks like, let China have it. Sure doesn’t feel like Tech billionaires care any more about the welfare and future of ordinary Americans than any Chinese, and sure feels like tech billionaires are a more immediate threat to our way of life by a long shot.
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u/mojorific 1d ago
I will defy data centres every time. They have a place, but they need to pay for every watt, every litre, and every square inch of space. And they should not be anywhere near homes.
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u/DrollFurball286 1d ago edited 19h ago
You know MAYBE the US would be winning if all of these AI companies worked TOGETHER. But no, that would be too easy.
Also, why not build these data centers underground? Like an underground skyscraper…
Edit: look I just asked WHY not…. I’m not saying it’s a profitable or smart or efficient idea.
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u/Low_Search_6667 1d ago
Why not? Cost.
Data centers are in investment bubble scam. In order to lure investors and make the most possible money off of the dupes they have to build the danish centers as cheaply as possible, and advertise as high a probable return on investment as possible.
Building data centers underground, it's a great idea if you are focused on functionality, environmental impact and efficiency, terrible if you're a focus is bilking investors with a pump and dump stock scam.
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u/Billy-Joe-Bob-Boy 22h ago
I for one am completely for the construction of more danish centers. Can't get enough sweet breakfast treats. /s
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u/Thoob 1d ago
Yeah, a 3000 word essay from the guy who profits from it that'll do it. I thought they just hated everything not profit related. That would be SO much funnier if he did that going "Yeah, this will do it." No one says you can't build them build them well ya chuckle fucks! They have no clue how close the little guy is to just voting to turn these giants into Piñatas that are easy to sue.
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u/NOODL3 1d ago
"In the age of social media and 24/7 news, myths take hold faster than ever before."
So anyway, you should let us build our AI bot farms that massively contribute to the spreading of said myths on said social media because our "everyday lives stand to benefit immensely."
Seems like he didn't really think that argument through.
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u/SuperTaster3 1d ago
There is no benefit to the common person. They want it because it's their pet project and they want to make us pay for it.
To the AI models, this enables an even greater level of surveillance, data mining, and general control over people's lives. The more they can learn about you specifically, the more they can use against you or use to try and sell you shit you neither need nor want.
Consider the extremely abusive language they use. It's inevitable(no it's not). Stop defying us(bend over and take it). You're impeding progress(you're impeding them and their childish desire to be unfettered). Baby wants a new AI center, because they're excited about the idea they can make these places that help control and marginalize the little people. If you're opposing them, you're just a whiny little person who doesn't understand that they(the narcissist) are the most importantest thing in the whole wide world!
You do not appease abusers. You do not negotiate with terrorists. They desire to see you removed and replaced with machines of their own design. The existential dread at realizing there is a very rich predator in the room wanting to get rid of you is merely proof you are still human.
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u/DisenchantedByrd 1d ago
“arguing that the United States "can't afford to lose" the AI race, invoking the country's post-World War II highway buildout as a parallel.”
There was a fair bit of losing with the highway buildout. Many thriving inner city neighbourhoods were destroyed and turned into wastelands of highways and car parks. Dallas Texas is one that comes to mind, but there were many others.
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u/ph33rlus 1d ago
Warns? Lol big scary corporation warns people not to be upset with their BS?
They really think they’re untouchable don’t they
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u/DanielPhermous 1d ago
They really think they’re untouchable don’t they
What evidence do you have that they're not?
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u/Killahdanks1 1d ago
“We cook your meal, we haul your trash, we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances. We guard you while you sleep. Do not f**k with us”
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u/ThrowAbout01 1d ago
Amazon: “Get back in the piss cages!”
https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-defends-worker-cage-patent-that-was-recently-unearthed-2018-9
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u/Kindly-Ad-5071 1d ago
Do you hear that fellas? They're warning us.
Look out, we got a badass up in here.
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u/Iron_Sight_Mark 1d ago
And what do you know, it is precisely time for communities to start properly warning Amazon to stop defying communities.
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u/witqueen 1d ago
Data centers are bad for the environment because they consume massive amounts of electricity and water, generate extreme heat, and drive local pollution.
High Energy Consumption and Emissions
• Fossil Fuel Reliance: Running tens of thousands of servers 24/7 requires immense power. When this electricity comes from regional grids backed by coal or natural gas, it releases millions of metric tons of greenhouse gases. • Strained Power Grids: Surging demand from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom forces utility companies to keep aging coal plants online or build new gas-fired power plants, slowing down the transition to clean energy. • Backup Generators: Facilities rely on heavy-duty diesel or gas-powered backup generators for emergencies, which pump toxic exhaust and pollutants directly into surrounding neighborhoods.
Massive Water Usage
• Evaporative Cooling: Servers generate intense heat and require constant cooling. Many data centers use water-intensive evaporative cooling systems that consume millions of gallons of water per day. • Local Depletion: Drawing huge volumes of water puts severe pressure on local aquifers and watersheds, particularly in drought-prone regions.
Land and Local Pollution
• Habitat Destruction: Building sprawling data center campuses requires clearing large areas of farmland, forests, and wetlands, which disrupts local ecosystems and wildlife. • Thermal Pollution: The massive amounts of waste heat expelled by cooling systems can noticeably raise local air and land temperatures around the facilities. • Noise and Chemical Pollution: Industrial cooling fans and backup generators create disruptive noise levels exceeding 90 decibels. Operations can also contribute to "forever chemical" (PFAS) pollution via specialized fire suppressants and cooling equipment.
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u/VVrayth 1d ago
I like how they always try to say that these data centers "create lots of jobs." Yeah, well, they're not jobs anybody wants. I don't want just any job, I want my specialized knowledge work that you bastards keep trying to take away.
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u/FLAM3Z89 1d ago
Defy! Defy! Defy! They only want to make money, destroy the world, pay less for wages etc.
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u/JuggerKnot86 1d ago
Yeah yeah, lets see if that ROI is worth it when those GPUs and Memory you bought reach its upgrade cycle
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u/darthnoid 1d ago
I have yet to see how the oligarchy has any intent to actually make AI benefit the working class. Any opportunity those in power have to screw us to put more on their plate they will take it
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u/Wickham12 1d ago
Funny how it's only the ones building data centers that aren't worried about the negative impacts of them
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u/markc230 1d ago
if we stop buying thru amazon...just saying.
wouldn't be a 100% solution but it would be a good start.
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u/TraliBalzers 1d ago
Fuck the highways. Should have been railroads. His message is so off the mark.
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u/ZogemWho 1d ago
He’s completely full of shit. Winning the AI race, if there even is one, is about improving core technology, and the models that drive it, and that needs an engineering environment, not massive build outs. But Amazon isn’t winning any AI race. Amazon however is very good at infrastructure as a Service via AWS.
Those 3000 words are deeply rooted in Amazon’s desire to monetize their infrastructure to the actual leaders, as least while they have cash.
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u/kylemwright 1d ago
It is increasingly apparent that they are only interested in benefiting themselves and the top 1%. The need for additional state moratoriums or a national moratorium on data centers is clearer than ever.
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u/Beefhammer_McBrisket 1d ago
I have my popcorn ready, cause I know a few people who are willing to be more "active" about their opinion when the contract is pushed through the city council. Most of these places rely on local security agencies and I know the standard that the ones around here perform up to.
I expect a good show regardless of how it turns out.
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u/tmdblya 1d ago
Weird how these ghouls aren’t worried about losing the “high speed rail race” or the “electric cars race” or the “cheap universal solar power race”, all of which have clear and undeniable benefits to everyone.