Symbolic imageTech leaders concede data-centre backlash after midterms
Meta and OpenAI say voter hostility will complicate data-centre building after Tuesday's US midterms. Microsoft turned down an expanded Nscale deal, and European activists are protesting in 15 countries.
Democrats who campaigned on halting or restricting data-centre construction won governorships in Texas, Georgia and Ohio on Tuesday, 3 November. The Wall Street Journal reports that Meta's president expects the results to make building data centres harder. The Financial Times reports that executives at its Future of AI summit admitted the industry fuelled hostility to its own expansion. Bloomberg and Reuters report that OpenAI is changing how it handles data-centre projects and has begun a charm offensive to shift voters' views.
Microsoft balks at Nscale expansion
The Financial Times reports that Microsoft declined an option to more than double its Texas data-centre contract with the UK firm Nscale, ahead of Nscale's IPO. Bloomberg says Microsoft is souring on so-called neoclouds amid delays and costs, and that the election has raised the hurdle for data-centre IPOs after peers tumbled.
Europe's activists mobilise
According to the Guardian, more than 100 groups, including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, hold "Stop Dirty Data Centres" protests on Friday and Saturday in 15 countries, from Warsaw to Dublin and east London. They demand moratoria on large projects, citing environmental and social costs, while the tech industry points to jobs and growth.