WASHINGTON: A coalition of tech giants and environmental groups is negotiating a national framework for data centres, according to a document reviewed by AFP on Nov 5.
The "Responsible Data Center Collaborative" counts Google, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon, Nvidia and Anthropic among its members, alongside environmental stalwarts the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Sierra Club.
The members began holding meetings in September and will continue through February 2027, backed by the Rockefeller Foundation, a philanthropic organisation, and Invest in Our Future, which is affiliated with it, the document said.
The matter was first reported by The Hill.
Their purpose is to hash out guidelines for areas including energy and infrastructure, water and natural resources, community engagement, economic and community value, transparency and accountability, and implementation.
Given the mix of participants, the document is blunt about how they should behave: "Check your assumptions by asking clarifying questions" and "attack problems, not people."
It also says the discussions will be governed by "Chatham House rules", which means "conversations stay in the room and learnings leave (without attribution)."
Data centres are key to the artificial intelligence (AI) buildout but have angered communities across the United States.
New power plants have driven up electric rates, and the facilities create noise pollution. Cooling systems can draw large volumes of municipal water, while mists from cooling towers can carry harmful bacteria.
To avoid raising local power bills, newer data centres generate their own electricity, often with noisy, polluting gas-fired plants.
Voters in dozens of American cities approved restrictions or outright bans on data centres during Nov 3 midterm elections, in one of the clearest signals that a groundswell of anger over the AI boom has cut across political divides. – AFP
