Share to ClassroomUS Ads Attack AI Data Centres
Political groups in the United States have spent more than $45 million this year on election adverts about data centres. Data centres are big buildings full of computers. They run AI (artificial intelligence) and other internet services. NPR (National Public Radio) found the number in advertising data. Republicans and Democrats spent almost the same amount. In January, only a few adverts talked about data centres. By August, there were about 164.
Many voters are angry. In June, a poll found that 77% of Americans think data centres make their electricity bills higher. Two-thirds of Democrats and half of Republicans do not want one near their home. People also worry about water use. And the buildings do not create many jobs — one centre can work with 50 people or fewer.
Microsoft says data centres can help small towns. Quincy is a farming town in Washington state with about 8,100 people. There, tax money from data centres helped pay for a new high school and a hospital. A water-recycling plant there saves about 138 million gallons of water a year. Microsoft promises that new centres will use less water.
