All posts tagged: Center

AI data center backlash: The case for data centers, explained by a person who wants you to like them

AI data center backlash: The case for data centers, explained by a person who wants you to like them

Published by José Betancourt

Lately, AI data centers are public enemy No. 1. The concerns are legion: how much water and electricity they consume, the noise they generate, the sprawling buildings they bring to communities, and the technology they’re powering that may or may not take all of our jobs and usher in the robot apocalypse. Earlier this year, Gallup found that 71 percent of Americans oppose building data centers that support AI in their communities. And the backlash is bipartisan: Majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents opposed local construction. Even in Texas, where data center development has been booming, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has hit the brakes. In September, he directed state regulators to halt permits for data centers pending audits examining their effects on the power grid and water resources. But while many data center projects have run aground, others are still getting built — and the companies behind them are employing experts like Nicole Thomas to smooth the way. Thomas is the senior vice president of media and community engagement at JSA, a marketing and public …

Boise State awarded .7m to establish RAVEN Center for Extreme-Environment Microelectronics

Boise State awarded $2.7m to establish RAVEN Center for Extreme-Environment Microelectronics

Published by skeptic

Boise State received a $2.7 million award through NextFlex, the U.S. Department of Defense’s flexible hybrid electronics manufacturing institute, to establish the Center for Reconfigurable Analog van der Waals Engines for Non-von-Neumann Sensing (RAVEN). The 15-month project is conducted in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory and begins in Oct. 2026. RAVEN will build the personnel, governance and instrumentation needed to take advanced two-dimensional materials from initial design through growth, device integration and qualification for use in extreme environments — the heat, radiation, vibration and particulate exposure that Air Force sensors encounter in the field. The RAVEN Center’s work targets a specific bottleneck Advanced sensors on uncrewed aircraft generate far more data than the platform can process or transmit, and conventional computing hardware consumes power that would otherwise extend flight time or support additional sensors. Two-dimensional quantum materials offer a path toward sensors that perform computation at the point of collection, reducing both power draw and reliance on data links that may be degraded or denied. The award builds on prior federal investment at …

Pennsylvania at the center of US measles outbreaks

Pennsylvania at the center of US measles outbreaks

Published by Sam Flores

Presented by Coalition to Strengthen America’s Healthcare {beacon} Healthcare Healthcare   PRESENTED BY  The Big Story  Pennsylvania at the center of U.S. measles outbreaks Pennsylvania recorded its sixth measles-related death on Friday, as the state suffers its worst outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease in 35 years.   © Photo credit: AP Photo/Mary Conlon The state… Source link

Cleveland to be home of next submarine repair center

Cleveland to be home of next submarine repair center

Published by Sam Flores

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security   The Big Story  Cleveland to be home of next submarine repair center President Trump announced late Monday that a new “massive” submarine repair center will be in Cleveland, Ohio.   © AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki “I’m pleased to announce that the… Source link

Can the AI industry persuade data center opponents by getting rid of NDAs?

Can the AI industry persuade data center opponents by getting rid of NDAs?

Published by skeptic

Amazon recently followed Microsoft’s lead and said it will no longer use nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) while negotiating with local governments over data centers. On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Sean O’Kane, Rebeccan Bellan and I discussed Amazon’s announcement, which came in the middle of a longer blog post making the case that data centers are actually good for communities. Rebecca was a bit skeptical that the recent spate of data center moratoriums will have a lasting effect, especially since the moratoriums only last for a year or two and “these data centers aren’t coming online for the next two, three, four, five years,” though I countered that data center backers definitely seem worried. Sean, meanwhile, suggested that a big reason for the backlash is the industry’s poor communication. “We’ve seen, through a lot of the controversy and backlash to AI and data centers, that the industry just does a really poor job explaining itself, and that they are obviously and constantly frustrated with the fact that most people can’t envision a world in …

The Kennedy Center names new artistic director, amid concerns : NPR

The Kennedy Center names new artistic director, amid concerns : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

The blocked-off entrance to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 1. The center has been shut to the public since September. Saul Loeb/AFP/via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption i Saul Loeb/AFP/via Getty Images The Kennedy Center has named Rick Canny, a talent manager who has worked with acts including ZZ Top and former Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, as its new artistic director. His appointment came despite complaints from staff about his business practices as a consultant for the arts institution. According to an email obtained by NPR sent to high-level staff Thursday, Matt Floca, the center’s executive director and chief operating officer, announced that Canny would be the center’s new artistic director. Canny has served as a consultant to the Kennedy Center since shortly after President Trump became the institution’s chairman in February 2025. Floca has no background in arts administration, programming or fundraising, in contrast to chief administrators at similar performing arts venues around the country. He was previously head of facilities at the Kennedy Center before …

Amazon and others are done keeping data center deals secret. Is it enough to build trust?

Amazon and others are done keeping data center deals secret. Is it enough to build trust?

Published by skeptic

Amazon says it will stop using NDAs when negotiating data center deals with local governments, following a similar move from Microsoft earlier this year. Secrecy has fueled community backlash against AI infrastructure, with opposition leading to hundreds of proposed and enacted moratoriums from New York to San Francisco. Meanwhile, a wave of startups is betting that consumers will hand AI agents access to their inboxes, files, and credit cards — if they can get websites to let them in.  On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Anthony Ha, Sean O’Kane, and Rebecca Bellan dig into whether ditching NDAs will change how data center deals get done, why trust may be the real product for personal AI startups, plus a couple of deals of the week.  Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You can also follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.  Source link

Amazon responds to data center backlash, says it no longer uses NDAs

Amazon responds to data center backlash, says it no longer uses NDAs

Published by skeptic

Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman said the company has stopped using nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) in its dealings with government agencies as it seeks approval to build new data centers. Garman’s statement is just one sentence in a longer blog post in which he tried to push back against widespread suspicion of data centers, and to make the case that they’re actually good for communities. NDAs are a significant piece of the broader data center backlash. For example, environmental activist Erin Brockovich recently said that the number one complaint she’s heard about data centers is transparency, with these projects following a common pattern: “projects announced after permits are already secured, developers who don’t return calls, local officials who signed NDAs before their neighbors knew a project was being considered.” As a result of that backlash, New York announced a one-year moratorium on permits for large data centers, and according to Garman, there are more than 100 data center moratoriums currently being considered across the United States. “If these measures are enacted, the U.S. could be …

Germany’s political center fights for relevance : NPR

Germany’s political center fights for relevance : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

German Chancellor and leader of Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union Friedrich Merz leaves after a press conference one day after state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, at the CDU’s headquarters in Berlin on Sept. 21. JENS SCHLUETER/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption i JENS SCHLUETER/AFP via Getty Images BERLIN — Berlin’s markets brim with the rich pickings of harvest. Picking up her weekly shopping, pensioner Ute Istock quips that the choice of apple varieties is as broad as that of candidates on the ballot sheets in last month’s city election — adding that this is not necessarily a good thing. “Voting has become tricky,” Istock admits. “It’s no longer clear how a party will end up governing effectively because there are too many parties and forming viable majorities is becoming impossible.” Germany’s political center is fighting for relevance after recent electoral gains for the far-right and the far-left. Istock reveals she voted for the far-left Die Linke party for the first time because she feels the centrist parties are out of touch. …

Kennedy Center Honors 2026 Sets Date, New Venue

Kennedy Center Honors 2026 Sets Date, New Venue

Published by Daniella Wilson

The 49th Kennedy Center Honors gala is set to go ahead on Dec. 7, 2026, but not at the now-shuttered Kennedy Center itself. Instead, the annual Kennedy Center Honors will take place at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The Kennedy Center has been at the center of a legal battle as U.S. President Donald Trump has slammed a court decision to block his name, two times now, from being added to the building’s exterior. The board at the arts institution also chose to shut down the Kennedy Center, with Trump in social media posts suggesting the closure would allow future renovations. Launched in 1978, the annual Kennedy Center Honors event recognizes individuals who have made lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts. Past gala tributes took place at the Kennedy Center itself in in Washington, D.C. The Kennedy Center gala event will announce the 2026 honorees and a broadcaster for the program at a later date. The ratings for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors, hosted by Trump …