Sam Altman, the embattled CEO of the AI technology company OpenAI, vacillates between warning of a labor market doom loop due to the technology his company developed and promising a new golden era for humanity just around the corner. In an essay posted to his X account this July, he claimed that “by safely stewarding AGI [artificial general intelligence] into the world, we can enter a new…
Source
A lot of AI technology may not work very well, but providing consumers with reliable information was never its major commercial promise. Investors have poured billions into generative AI because of the promise that it will eliminate jobs on a massive scale. Tech journalist Brian Merchant joins Movement Memos host Kelly Hayes to discuss how the AI boom is being used to displace workers…
Source
When Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a one-year pause on data center construction on July 14, making New York the first state to pump the brakes on the AI infrastructure boom, tribal nations had already enacted their own moratoriums for months without waiting for a governor’s signature. The Seminole Nation passed its own moratorium in Oklahoma in March. The Tonawanda Seneca Nation sued over a facility in…
Source
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Tuesday making the state the first in the nation to implement a moratorium on new hyperscale data centers. The Democratic governor said she would pause environmental permits while the state researches and develops a regulatory framework to protect ratepayers, the environment, the energy grid and communities. Four hyperscale data centers are…
Source
Millions of people across the U.S. are angry at their utilities. Electricity costs are rising while CEOs and Wall Street investors salivate over the booming energy demand from data centers. Now, we could be entering a new and ominous stage of utility power: the rise of the corporate mega-utility. On May 18, Florida-based NextEra Energy, owner of the largest electric utility in the U.S.
Source
Omaira Garcia didn’t realize life on her small ranch in Abilene, Texas, was about to change forever until clouds of dust — kicked up by a mysterious project next door — began to engulf her home. The Air Force veteran said she found out about OpenAI’s plans to build its flagship Stargate data center directly beside her property only after construction began in the summer of 2024. Today…
Source