The relentless push for data centers is raising US power bills and polluting US communities. It doesn’t have to be this way. Virginia data center -- image via news video screenshot By Michi Trota Bill Gates recently made headlines by suggesting that climate change is no longer a priority , but the American public begs to differ. In this last election, climate change was a defining issue in states like Virginia and Georgia , where voters grappled with rising energy costs. And

AI’s massive energy use is giving fossil fuels a lifeline when they should be rapidly phased out in response to the climate emergency. Meta’s Mesa Data Center, Arizona -- image via Meta By Jean Su & John Fleming, Common Dreams What started as rivulets of hype, hope, and alarm over artificial intelligence have combined into a tsunami-level wave washing over the American consciousness. ChatGPT is the most downloaded application in history, AI stock prices are hitting record ma

Most Americans think technology is making us lonelier. Big Tech’s solution? Be friends with your tech. Screenshot from the Friend teaser video By Sonali Kolhatkar This fall, Avi Schiffman, founder of the AI startup Friend.com , boasted on X about his company’s new advertising blitz, claiming it was the “Largest NYC subway campaign ever.” Since then, the large white billboards lining New York City’s train stations have not only sparked intense conversation, but also vandalism

Billionaires want to use the US public's tax dollars to put nuclear-powered AI data centers in drought-prone farmland. What could go...

AI data centers produce massive noise pollution, use huge amounts of water, and keep us hooked on fossil fuels. A Google Data Center in...

The promise of AI is eclipsed by its perils, which include our own annihilation. By Richard Heinberg Those advocating for artificial...