When A.I. Comes to Town: The Backlash Over Data Centers

Tech companies are racing to build thousands of huge data centers to power the artificial intelligence revolution. To find the land they need, they are barreling into rural communities across the United States with the promise of good jobs. But not everyone is buying that pitch.

Karen Weise, a technology correspondent for The New York Times, tells the story of one county pushing back against Big Tech. 

Guest: Karen Weise, a technology correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• What exactly are artificial intelligence companies trying to build? Here’s a guide.
• How large tech companies are offloading the risks of the A.I. boom.
• At this big Amazon data center in Indiana, everything is supersized for A.I.

Photo: AJ Mast for The New York Times

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.