US Commerce Secy warns communities against blocking AI data centres

Chapel Hill (North Carolina), Sep 3 (IANS) US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has warned American communities that they risk losing investment, jobs and tax revenue if they block the construction of artificial intelligence data centres because of what he called misinformation about their environmental and economic impact.

Lutnick defended the rapid expansion of data-centre infrastructure at a press conference following the G20 Innovation Ministerial in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The comments came after a reporter noted that Orange County, where the ministerial was held, had imposed a one-year moratorium on large-scale data centres.

“I think your point, you touched it, which is it’s misinformation,” Lutnick said. “And by setting a moratorium on data centres, that means the next set of opportunity just won’t go to you.”

He said other communities across the United States were prepared to welcome such projects and would receive the resulting investment.

“If you roll out the red carpet, you can win,” he said. “And if you don’t, you’re just not going to.”

Lutnick argued that data centres would house advanced AI models and give communities access to knowledge and new economic opportunities.

“These frontier models bring, as we discussed today, the world’s knowledge in a bottle to each economy, right? And to each community and to each neighbourhood,” he said.

The Commerce Secretary rejected claims that data centres would necessarily raise electricity prices or place an excessive burden on local resources.

“So, you know, these data centres, they’re just getting a bad rap because our adversaries are trying to slow us down,” he said.

Lutnick said companies building the facilities would develop their own power supplies and contribute to the local tax base.

“They’re not going to raise the cost of power in that community,” he said. “They’re going to bring down the cost of power in that community.”

He urged technology companies to communicate more clearly with residents concerned about the effects of large AI infrastructure projects.

“It is a good idea for these companies that are building these data centres to get out there and make this point clear that they are not going to raise the cost of local power,” he said.

“They’re going to be an incredible partner in the tax base of that vicinity. And yes, they need to make that point again and again and again.”

Lutnick predicted that communities rejecting the projects would later regret watching neighbouring areas receive the investment and economic benefits.

“You will see a year from today, two years from today, and five years from today, when we look back at those people who said, ‘Don’t build it here,’ they will feel silly, and they will be less economically,” he said.

Artificial intelligence infrastructure was a central subject at the G20 ministerial. Lutnick said US companies were committing hundreds of billions of dollars to semiconductors, supercomputers and data centres.

The rapid growth of generative AI has increased demand for computing capacity and electricity. Technology companies are building large data centres to train and operate increasingly powerful models.

–IANS

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