New York legislators look to pass a one-year ban on new data centers
In New York, legislators have passed a one-year moratorium on new data center construction, reports The Verge , marking the first statewide ban on a critical component of the infrastructure needed for artificial intelligence. Governor Kathy Hochul has yet to sign the bill into law, however, so at this stage it is better understood as a proposed framework than actual policy, but the lawmakers behind the bill say it is designed less as an outright ban than as a means of buying time to assess the many impacts of new data center construction — on the environment, on energy prices, and on local jobs. SEE ALSO: Meta is building AI data centers in tents If passed into law, the bill would require any company planning to build a "large" data center, defined as having at least 20 megawatts of capacity, to also fund a public hearing into the desirability of the project among local residents. Public opinion on data centers...