AI Centers Threaten Power, Health
8m
Tech companies' drive to build AI-scale data centers raised concerns about sharply increased electricity demand, PFAS-laden cooling risks and mounting U.S. community resistance that slowed projects.
by John Quiggin
Even supposing that AI agents work reliably for the kinds of jobs described here (my limited experience has been mixed at best) it would mark only a modest increase in convenience compared to the arrival of Internet shopping in 1990s.
September 24, 2026 at 12:13 AM
Even supposing that AI agents work reliably for the kinds of jobs described here (my limited experience has been mixed at best) it would mark only a modest increase in convenience compared to the arrival of Internet shopping in 1990s.
Reposted by Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe
Something that worries me more every day: I suspect most fields have 5-25 breakthrough ideas latent in existing data and literature. Say you’re a midsize AI company looking for cred. Why not hire a *small* team of domain experts + 1000 agents … and promote your models as the ones that broke Econ?
Anthropic threw Claude at a DNA database. 21 hours, 950 agents, and 210mm tokens later, it emerged with a novel reverse transcriptase (similar to CRISPR). They're running a non-pathogenic (BSL-1/2) research lab in the Bay Area.
Claude discovers a novel enzyme system with CRISPR-like repeats
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that's working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.
www.anthropic.com
September 23, 2026 at 9:57 PM
Something that worries me more every day: I suspect most fields have 5-25 breakthrough ideas latent in existing data and literature. Say you’re a midsize AI company looking for cred. Why not hire a *small* team of domain experts + 1000 agents … and promote your models as the ones that broke Econ?
It would be great to have a public database of data center data (I know of a couple efforts, but nothing as comprehensive as S&P). You can check out free state-level aggregates and projections from EPRI's Powering Intelligence white paper: powering-intelligence.epri.com
Home | Powering Intelligence 2026
EPRI projects U.S. data centers to consume 9-17% of national electricity by 2030 as rapid growth driven by AI, streaming, and cryptocurrency accelerates. This report explores scenario-based forecasts,...
powering-intelligence.epri.com
September 23, 2026 at 9:21 PM
It would be great to have a public database of data center data (I know of a couple efforts, but nothing as comprehensive as S&P). You can check out free state-level aggregates and projections from EPRI's Powering Intelligence white paper: powering-intelligence.epri.com
by Libby Robin
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09... This will drive people off the grid. We already feel we are paying too much for poles and wires to Data Centres. Of course EV owners should be rewarded. Just not aluminium manufacturers and Data Centres who benefit disproportionally from the eco-efforts of consumers.
All consumers to pay for EV chargers under power monopoly 'waiver'
A bitter fight is brewing between EV charging companies and poles-and-wires companies, and now a regulator has weighed in.
www.abc.net.au
September 23, 2026 at 9:00 PM
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09... This will drive people off the grid. We already feel we are paying too much for poles and wires to Data Centres. Of course EV owners should be rewarded. Just not aluminium manufacturers and Data Centres who benefit disproportionally from the eco-efforts of consumers.
Reposted by Henry Jones
The people who built AI with seemingly little care for the havoc it could cause and no guardrails to protect public should be held accountable for every problem AI is now causing. They want to make billions but don’t want to accept responsibility for their technology.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...
Breaking: OpenAI agent hacked Medicare portal, PM says
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says an Open AI agent gained unauthorised accessed to the Medicare statistics reporting service portal.
www.abc.net.au
September 23, 2026 at 8:55 PM
The people who built AI with seemingly little care for the havoc it could cause and no guardrails to protect public should be held accountable for every problem AI is now causing. They want to make billions but don’t want to accept responsibility for their technology.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...
Chad Jones has a useful way to think about AI safety:
If AI poses a 1% chance of catastrophe, and we value a statistical life at ~$10M, reducing that risk by 1 percentage point is worth about $100,000 per person. https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com/p/if-we-pay-for-safer-cars-why-wont
If AI poses a 1% chance of catastrophe, and we value a statistical life at ~$10M, reducing that risk by 1 percentage point is worth about $100,000 per person. https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com/p/if-we-pay-for-safer-cars-why-wont
How Much Would You Pay to Prevent the AI Apocalypse?
And what economists say we should spend. Hint: we're nowhere close.
newsletter.platypuseconomics.com
September 23, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Chad Jones has a useful way to think about AI safety:
If AI poses a 1% chance of catastrophe, and we value a statistical life at ~$10M, reducing that risk by 1 percentage point is worth about $100,000 per person. https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com/p/if-we-pay-for-safer-cars-why-wont
If AI poses a 1% chance of catastrophe, and we value a statistical life at ~$10M, reducing that risk by 1 percentage point is worth about $100,000 per person. https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com/p/if-we-pay-for-safer-cars-why-wont
Every hexagon = 500 MW of data center capacity. Line them up on a grid intensity map and you get a pretty clear picture of where America’s AI buildout is landing on dirty power, and where it isn't.
September 23, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Every hexagon = 500 MW of data center capacity. Line them up on a grid intensity map and you get a pretty clear picture of where America’s AI buildout is landing on dirty power, and where it isn't.
🏭 40 more datacentres pitched for the UK
Civo wants 40 edge datacentres for what it calls Britain's 'sovereign AI'. Grid strain and planning objections go unmentioned.
🔗 theregister.com/off-prem/2026/09/22/civo-plots-40-edge-datacenters-to-power-britains-sovereign-ai/5298141
#AI #Datacentresaa
Civo wants 40 edge datacentres for what it calls Britain's 'sovereign AI'. Grid strain and planning objections go unmentioned.
🔗 theregister.com/off-prem/2026/09/22/civo-plots-40-edge-datacenters-to-power-britains-sovereign-ai/5298141
#AI #Datacentresaa
Civo plots 40 edge datacenters to power Britain's sovereign AI
First site is due in Hertfordshire next March, with Nvidia's Vera Rubin systems and a longer-term 1 GW ambition
theregister.com
September 23, 2026 at 6:11 PM
🏭 40 more datacentres pitched for the UK
Civo wants 40 edge datacentres for what it calls Britain's 'sovereign AI'. Grid strain and planning objections go unmentioned.
🔗 theregister.com/off-prem/2026/09/22/civo-plots-40-edge-datacenters-to-power-britains-sovereign-ai/5298141
#AI #Datacentresaa
Civo wants 40 edge datacentres for what it calls Britain's 'sovereign AI'. Grid strain and planning objections go unmentioned.
🔗 theregister.com/off-prem/2026/09/22/civo-plots-40-edge-datacenters-to-power-britains-sovereign-ai/5298141
#AI #Datacentresaa
Reposted by Bessma Momani
AI data centers release superheated plumes of air that can blow across property lines, threatening to exacerbate the urban heat island effect in cities
AI Data Centers Release Heat, Posing New Problem for Cities
As facilities to power AI grow larger and are built in clusters, they are spreading hot air beyond their property lines
bloom.bg
September 23, 2026 at 5:00 PM
AI data centers release superheated plumes of air that can blow across property lines, threatening to exacerbate the urban heat island effect in cities
Reposted by Peter Thorne
The authors of a new report shared exclusively with Virgin Media News say Ireland “can’t afford” to continue its data centre boom.
Academics at UCD and Maynooth University say the capital invested in data centre construction over five years could have funded 50,000 new homes.
#VMNews
Academics at UCD and Maynooth University say the capital invested in data centre construction over five years could have funded 50,000 new homes.
#VMNews
September 23, 2026 at 4:52 PM
The authors of a new report shared exclusively with Virgin Media News say Ireland “can’t afford” to continue its data centre boom.
Academics at UCD and Maynooth University say the capital invested in data centre construction over five years could have funded 50,000 new homes.
#VMNews
Academics at UCD and Maynooth University say the capital invested in data centre construction over five years could have funded 50,000 new homes.
#VMNews
Reposted by James Goodwin
For @lpeblog.bsky.social I wrote about why "bring your own power" is a false solution to the problem of datacenter energy demand and why municipalization (public ownership and control) of regional transmission organizations is necessary to protect ratepayers and accelerate decarbonization.
The Neoliberal Grid is in Crisis
To protect customers from rising electricity prices, public officials are urging data center developers to supply their own power. But this approach risks privatizing the power grid…
lpeproject.org
September 23, 2026 at 3:53 PM
For @lpeblog.bsky.social I wrote about why "bring your own power" is a false solution to the problem of datacenter energy demand and why municipalization (public ownership and control) of regional transmission organizations is necessary to protect ratepayers and accelerate decarbonization.
Excellent to see @friends-earth.bsky.social’s petition calling for a pause on new data centres in the UK. An issue that is global and local. Every voice counts! action.friendsoftheearth.uk/petition/put...
Stop data centres draining our precious resources
Add my name Data centres are springing up all over the UK – using massive amounts of electricity and, in many cases, huge amounts of water. The UK is already facing water shortages, high energy demand...
action.friendsoftheearth.uk
September 23, 2026 at 12:33 PM
Excellent to see @friends-earth.bsky.social’s petition calling for a pause on new data centres in the UK. An issue that is global and local. Every voice counts! action.friendsoftheearth.uk/petition/put...
by Prem Sikka
Datacentre are being foisted on people living in low/medium income areas, not in wealthy areas.
Resulting in excessive use of water, energy; pollution and environmental damage. Very few long-term jobs are generated.
Watch the Minister's reply.
Resulting in excessive use of water, energy; pollution and environmental damage. Very few long-term jobs are generated.
Watch the Minister's reply.
September 23, 2026 at 11:59 AM
Datacentre are being foisted on people living in low/medium income areas, not in wealthy areas.
Resulting in excessive use of water, energy; pollution and environmental damage. Very few long-term jobs are generated.
Watch the Minister's reply.
Resulting in excessive use of water, energy; pollution and environmental damage. Very few long-term jobs are generated.
Watch the Minister's reply.
by Paul Dorfman
AI Data Centres have yet another heat problem.
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
AI Data Centers Release Heat, Posing New Problem for Cities
As facilities to power AI grow larger and are built in clusters, they are spreading hot air beyond their property lines
www.bloomberg.com
September 23, 2026 at 11:58 AM
AI Data Centres have yet another heat problem.
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
The AI Productivity Delusion: As with previous tech revolutions, it is natural to focus on AI's net effects: Will it create more than it destroys? But unlike previous eras of creative destruction, the real question this time is, “Create more of what?” www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...
The AI Productivity Delusion
Yanis Varoufakis sees the technology converting markets into fiefs and profits into rents, ending capitalism as we know it.
www.project-syndicate.org
September 23, 2026 at 11:22 AM
The AI Productivity Delusion: As with previous tech revolutions, it is natural to focus on AI's net effects: Will it create more than it destroys? But unlike previous eras of creative destruction, the real question this time is, “Create more of what?” www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Really good Bloomberg package on the AI data centre impact on urban heat island effects in the US, with exhaust heat raising temps up to 4ºF (2.25ºC) higher up to 1/3 mile away from the data centre. One more driver to 70% US opposition to data centres.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
September 23, 2026 at 10:44 AM
Really good Bloomberg package on the AI data centre impact on urban heat island effects in the US, with exhaust heat raising temps up to 4ºF (2.25ºC) higher up to 1/3 mile away from the data centre. One more driver to 70% US opposition to data centres.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
