This map tracks data center projects and AI policy around the world

When Oregon resident Isabel Rexboro heard that Google was gobbling up public lands to fuel its data centers in her home state, she initially didn’t know what to believe. “There is a lot of misinformation about data centers,” she said. “Google has denied taking that land.”

Technically, she explains, The Dalles, a city near the Washington state border, sought to reclaim that land, “and Google is just a big, unnamed user.” It was the city indeed I asked for ownership A 150-acre portion of the Mount Hood National Forest, claiming it needs access to the Mount Hood watershed to meet municipal needs as its population grows — 16,010 as of the 2020 census. But critics, including environmentalists, say the city is trying to secure more water for Google, which has Sprawling data center campus in Dallas Which already consumes about a third of the city’s water supply.

The controversy sparked Rexboro’s curiosity about the backlash to data centers being built in other communities. So Rexboro, a student at the University of Washington who studies the links between technology and public policy, decided to map it out. Using information collected previously The era of artificial intelligence And the data extracted from legislation related to data centers, it built Interactive map Tracking AI policy around the world. I designed it to be simple enough for anyone to use. “I wanted it to be something that my younger sisters could play with and explore to understand what data centers are like in the area and what is actually being done about it,” Rexoburu said. She hoped to change their minds this way “instead of likes via TikTok.”

Four times a day, the map searches for new sources and compares them with the existing database created by Reksopuro. “Once he does that, he will write a new summary, add it to the news feed, and post it to the sidebar,” she said. “I wanted to self-update, because I am a student too.”

Reksopuro is not against data centers, but she believes that tech giants benefit from a lack of transparency around data center policies. “Right now, this is a really mysterious thing, and all of a sudden, there’s a facility,” she said. “I think if people knew about data centers in advance, it would give them leverage. They would be able to negotiate: request job training programs, tax revenues, environmental monitoring, things to improve their community.”