The right-wing boomers protesting data centers and the left have a lot in common

On a gray, damp Saturday morning in Central Florida, just under a dozen people gathered outside the Spring Hill Branch Library to protest the construction of a large-scale data center in their community. There was no immediate threat — the Hernando County Commission unanimously agreed to halt such developments for a year in June — but organizers were not satisfied. Pausing will not be enough. They wanted a ban.

“We’re going to fight, fight, fight,” said a 71-year-old woman named Carol, who was sitting at a table with flyers and a petition that the group No Data Centers Hernando County intends to present to the local government. Carol, a retired country music radio host, is a staunchly conservative and proud Floridian. The American flag on her red shirt was made up of baby sea turtles. A white visor, studded with red and blue rhinestones, shielded her face from the late morning sun. “How would you like to have one? If you live 15 minutes from a data center, you’ll hear day and night: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee this“.

Beyond noise pollution and environmental devastation — the frequencies emitted by data centers, she told me, Harms bees and other pollinators – Carol was concerned about the social cost of mass adoption of artificial intelligence. She told me about a woman she knew who cut off all her friends because “ChatGPT told her to.”

“She consults with ChatGPT what time she should wake up in the morning, what time she should go to bed, and who her friends should be,” she said.

The small gathering in suburban Tampa was one of about 150 protests affiliated with Humans First, which describes itself as “a conservative social movement dedicated to ensuring that the future of artificial intelligence is in the hands of everyday people.”

Carroll listed a series of damages caused by data centers, some more suspicious than others. It claimed that cows raised on farms near data centers were giving birth to dead calves. Oversized facilities Its parts are sourced from ChinaAn American adversary who threatens national security. “We’re preparing ourselves,” Carol told me. “Do you know what’s in those chips?” I told her no. “We blindly trust the Chinese?” I continued, skeptical. “To give us potato chips?” (At the same time, conservative supporters of data centers, They claim that China is funding anti-AI campaigns in the United States.)

Communities across the country are pulling back from building data centers. A Recent Gallup Poll It found that seven in 10 Americans oppose building data centers in their area. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans and 75 percent of Democrats surveyed said they object to building a local data center. Americans might as well More polarized than everBut the backlash against data centers is bipartisan, and could cement surprising new political alliances. The concerns driving the conservative backlash are similar to those motivating liberals: the environmental costs of building and maintaining data centers; The ethical problems of artificial intelligence, from its use for mass government surveillance to its effects on users’ mental health; And fears that having a data center nearby will hurt their quality of life. But there are also some partisan concerns behind the right-wing data center backlash, specifically the threat of China hacking American technology.

Humans First is a bipartisan chapter of the Center for AI Safety Led by Amy Krameris a longtime conservative organizer and arguably one of the people most responsible for the Republican Party’s populist turn. Cramer was an early leader of the Tea Party and a co-founder of both Women for Trump and Women for America First, the latter of which hosted the Stop the Steal march in Washington, D.C., which evolved into the January 6 riots. (Kramer was not among those who stormed the Capitol.)

Despite Humans First’s partisanship and Cramer’s political bona fides, concerns at the Humans First rally in Hernando County were decidedly local. A firefighter running for agricultural commissioner took down signs; A Republican candidate for county commissioner stopped by. The meeting ended with a lecture given by a land use expert in which he explained how to change zoning codes to prevent construction Hyperscale data centers – Those that occupy a minimum of 10,000 square feet and have a minimum power consumption of 100 MW. Before the lecture, Hernando County Data Center Member Kim Belanger, who works in information technology, pulled an article about data centers from the progressive website More Perfect Union. Although the room leaned conservative, the article, she said, was “very informative.”

Patti Zerhout, the organizer, told me she found out about Humans First through Facebook. Participating in the National Day of Action was a no-brainer, since Zerhout and her friends had already started a data center in Hernando County to thwart data center construction in their community.

“I’m very conservative and I don’t believe in all the things that Democrats believe in at all,” Zerhout told me. But she also feels betrayed by Florida’s Republican leadership. She was a big fan of Gov. Ron DeSantis — at first. But in his second term, she said, “He was nothing but pro-development, just inviting everyone over here, tearing our state apart.”

DeSantis positioned himself as an AI skeptic and signed a law in May requiring large-scale data centers to cover their own utility costs and allowing local governments to set water use regulations for data center projects. But his administration gave data center developers millions in tax breaks, According to the Tampa Bay Times. The governor reportedly pushed to change the state’s tax break for data centers so that it applies only to large-scale facilities.

Sitting outside the library, Zerhout and her friends discussed potential successors to DeSantis. “This is probably the most important race of your life,” Belanger told me. She’s also worried about A.J Ballot amendment supported by DeSantis That would eliminate property taxes for most homeowners, because it would deprive county governments of much-needed revenue — which could make developments like data centers more attractive.

Zerhout and others were disappointed with Rep. Byron Donalds, the Republican front-runner in the gubernatorial primary and an outspoken supporter of data center construction in Florida. “I don’t understand why Trump supports him,” one said.

“I’m not against the data center. I’m in favor of having a plan,” Donalds said He said in February. “Data centers will be a function of American life in the future.” Donalds said he wanted to bring more outside investment to Florida, a comment that has come back to haunt him ever since. “My vision is to make Florida the financial capital of the world,” he said at an event. Host it The hill.

“This is not what we want here in Florida at all,” Zerhout told me.

Donald’s supports data centers now It cost him supporters from his party. Recent attack ads have focused on the support he has received from the tech industry, including more than $5 million in donations from Leading the futurea $100 million pro-AI super PAC whose funders include Andreessen Horowitz and Palantir’s Joe Lonsdale, According to the Tallahassee DemocratIn addition to $500,000 from American Mission, which is itself funded by Leading the Future. Donalds appears to be seeking a compromise between the industry that supports him and the voters whose support he needs to win the primary. Monday is Declared legislation It would prevent data centers from raising utility costs.

Opposition to data centers is widespread across the state. More than 20 counties and municipalities across the state have discussed or passed moratoriums on data center construction, Politico Reports. In some communities, the backlash has been strong enough to deter developers. In June, the sponsor behind a controversial data center proposal in Citrus County She withdrew her plan To build an 800-acre data center in the community after the county commission She agreed to a one-year suspension of execution Regarding the repartition of applications for data centers.

“Unfortunately, a local moratorium on data centers would send a signal that the region is closed to business, whether for data centers or other important economic development projects,” said Dan Diorio, executive vice president for state policy and government affairs at the Data Center Alliance, an industry lobbying group. Edge. But that’s exactly what Zerhout and other organizers want.

Zerhout explained that she is not anti-growth, but she does not want the government to provide subsidies to major developers who do not have connections to the community. “If we can keep it local, with local builders, that will be good because they know what to do with Florida,” she said. “Even our agriculture commissioner” — Wilton Simpson, a Republican — “is making people come in and use herbicides and pesticides, spray our lakes and kill all our plants.” She is concerned about how artificial intelligence will enhance mass surveillance, an issue that became particularly prominent after World War II The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office has begun installing them On local roads.

“We don’t want people to lose their jobs, for our country to be run by artificial intelligence, and for us to live like people in China, where our money is controlled and everything we do is looked at,” she said.

Although Zerhout has been a lifelong Republican, the data center issue — and the larger issue of development — led to some unexpected political compromises for her.

“If Byron Donalds wins the primary, I will vote for the Democratic Party. I will not vote for him,” she told me, adding that she would also be willing to vote for an independent candidate who opposes data centers. “I think a lot of people are like that. It’s not about the party. It’s not that. It’s about human life.”