Rising Backlash Puts Big Tech on the Defensive

[bonk]

Microsoft’s announcement comes amid mounting resistance nationwide. Activist groups opposing data centers are now active across dozens of states, and Microsoft has already scrapped projects in places like Wisconsin after intense local pushback. In other regions, protests and critical media coverage have turned data centers into a visible political issue.

The pressure extends to Washington as well. After Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined a separate AI infrastructure push, Donald Trump publicly warned that Americans should not “pick up the tab” for Big Tech’s power use. Whether Microsoft’s new commitments will ease public anger—or simply raise expectations—remains an open question.

[lingriiddd]

once data centers become a political issue you know things got real