Story summary
Here's a summary of the news stories:
A surge in donations to local politicians' groups from companies like Flock, which makes AI-powered surveillance cameras, has sparked concerns about conflicts of interest and undue influence. Since 2025, Flock has given 700% more to Democratic and Republican groups than it did in the previous three years. Critics argue that these donations create a reputational risk for local officials who accept them.
Meanwhile, protests against data centers and AI cameras have gained momentum, with some activists calling for stricter regulations on these facilities. Both Republicans and Democrats are trying to capitalize on this issue ahead of the midterms, with campaigns spending millions on ads criticizing opponents' ties to data centers.
However, a recent Gallup survey found that Americans are more concerned about having nuclear power plants in their neighborhoods than AI data centers - by over 20 percentage points. This growing unease has even led some Republicans, like Texas Governor Greg Abbott, to take a more cautious stance on data centers.
On the global stage, UN rights chief Volker Turk warned that AI could pose an "existential" risk to humanity and called for stricter regulations on the industry. He also expressed concerns about AI's potential impact on critical infrastructure and democratic systems.
Finally, a group of writers and researchers is using a tool called Pangram to detect and expose AI-generated writing in publications and online content. This effort has already led to some notable successes, including unmasking AI use at major newspapers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Written for “Growing Resistance to Data Centers” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 31 other(s) covering the same event.
A month ago, on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher spoke with Mike Rowe about the enormous demand for qualified tradespeople.
asserted
Maher → speak → tradespeople
It was serendipitous that the conversation came as white-collar workers and lawmakers are confronting a different question: What happens to American workers as artificial intelligence transforms the economy?
asserted
intelligence → come → economy
In June, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) proposed public ownership of major AI companies through an AI sovereign wealth fund.
asserted
Sanders → propose → fund
President Donald Trump has floated a considerably different version of the idea: giving the people an ownership interest in leading AI companies.
asserted
Trump → float → companies
The proposals are radically different, but the convergence is worth noticing.
asserted
convergence → notice → ?
Republicans who spent years warning about socialism have embraced tariffs, subsidies, and industrial policy to reshore strategically important industries.
asserted
who → spend → industries
Democrats who once defended globalization have embraced many of the same policies.
asserted
who → defend → policies
Progressives and national conservatives, for very different reasons, are entertaining a larger federal role in developing and financing strategically important technologies.
asserted
Progressives → entertain → technologies
America needs a serious conversation about sovereign wealth funds, free-market capitalism, regional autonomy, industrial policy, and the government’s role in an economy increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.
asserted
America → need → intelligence
For the most part, I favor free trade and free markets, and I like the idea of giving local municipalities more control in data center creation, as proposed by Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN).
asserted
I → favor → Burchett
However, I also like much of the recent reshoring produced by the successive policies of Trump, former President Joe Biden, and Trump again.
asserted
I → like → Trump
I know there is a contradiction there.
asserted
I → know → ?
I live with it daily.
asserted
I → live → it
Even Adam Smith left some room for this contradiction.
asserted
Smith → leave → contradiction
In The Wealth of Nations, Smith generally favored allowing people to direct their own capital but recognized a role for government in providing public works and institutions whose benefits to society could exceed the returns available to an individual investor.
uncertain
benefits → favor → investor
He was also deeply suspicious of governments directing private industry.
asserted
He → direct → industry
The question isn’t whether the government should replace markets.
asserted
government → replace → markets
It’s whether there are limited circumstances in which markets alone cannot provide something the country has a compelling interest in possessing.
asserted
country → ’ → interest
This may be one of the few areas where America’s political factions have more in common than either would like to admit.
uncertain
either → have → common
Progressives worry about workers displaced by AI and want the public to share in the prosperity it generates.
asserted
it → worry → prosperity
National conservatives worry about dependence on China and America’s ability to manufacture strategically important goods.
asserted
conservatives → worry → goods
Classical liberals worry, with good reason, about Washington picking winners and losers and “national security” becoming the magical phrase that transforms every corporate handout into industrial policy.
asserted
that → worry → policy
They all have a point.
asserted
They → have → point
Let private companies compete, innovate, fail, and make enormous amounts of money.
asserted
companies → let → money
American precedent exists for the government helping build the infrastructure around technological revolutions.
asserted
government → exist → revolutions
During the early Cold War, federal research spending, defense procurement, and military demand helped create the environment in which America’s semiconductor industry, and eventually Silicon Valley, flourished.
asserted
industry → create → which
Washington didn’t need to own the companies to help create the ecosystem in which they succeeded.
asserted
they → need → which
If Washington is now going to go further and take equity, however, it should behave like a disciplined investor rather than an ATM for whichever corporation most effectively attaches “national security” to its slide deck.
asserted
corporation → go → deck
Establish rules for what qualifies for investment.
asserted
what → establish → investment
Don’t allow strategically important firms to return endlessly for bailouts.
asserted
firms → allow → bailouts
If taxpayers assume the downside risk, they should receive some of the upside.
asserted
they → assume → upside
Investments should be transparent and diversified, not driven by political favoritism.
asserted
Investments → drive → favoritism
If those investments generate substantial returns, the government’s equity could eventually form part of a sovereign wealth fund, allowing people to participate in the next economic boom rather than merely observe it.
uncertain
people → generate → it
With the debt being around $40 trillion, it feels like an awkward time for the White House to start building out its venture capital portfolio.
asserted
House → feel → portfolio
If we can’t figure this out, here is my proposal: Data World.
asserted
proposal → figure → this
If we’re going to creep a little closer to China’s economic model, we might as well embrace some of its tackier cultural impulses.
uncertain
we → go → impulses
Let’s build them.
asserted
’s → build → them
But like the gold flourishes of the Oval Office, let’s make them tacky but useful.
asserted
them → let → Office
Rather than another enormous anonymous box dropped onto former woodland, make data centers regional tourist attractions.
asserted
centers → drop → attractions
One looks like Paris.
asserted
One → look → Paris
…and 20 more, not listed.
