AI data centers are expanding rapidly across the U.S., but growing local resistance is emerging as a potential roadblock for the infrastructure behind artificial intelligence.
“Data centers are both controversial and critical to the artificial intelligence technologies undergirding the digital economy,” the report said. “Without abundant data centers, the digital revolution could potentially stall, restricting access to the benefits of digital technologies for individuals, communities, governments, and businesses.”
“Ultimately, the metric that really matters is community satisfaction, and that is what we should be optimizing for,” Ren told Decrypt. “There is a growing recognition that community voices matter, and that data centers should be planned and built in alignment with local interests, not just technical or economic objectives.”
“Of course, the first step is measurement," he added. "You cannot improve what you do not measure."
“Left unchecked, these community concerns could slow down the rapid construction of data centers, weaken AI growth, and slow AI revenue streams, all of which would limit the AI benefits promised by tech firms and government officials,” the Brookings report said.
To elevate environmental concerns, Brookings called for legally binding community benefit agreements, or CBAs, as an alternative to informal negotiations and undisclosed development contracts for data centers.
The agreement, the report said, should define costs, subsidies, and tax revenues, while setting enforceable commitments for jobs, electricity and water use, and pollution.
“Well-crafted community benefit agreements can address public concerns and mitigate known problems of data centers,” Brookings wrote. “Greater transparency on each of these fronts would help assuage the worries of the American public.”
