Seattle has banned the construction of new AI data centers for one year — The Guardian
The Seattle City Council unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on the construction of new data centers.
The decision was made due to concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence infrastructure on the city’s power grid, the environment, and land use.
Seattle is one of the key technology hubs in the U.S., home to the headquarters of Amazon and Microsoft.
It is precisely the rapid growth in the artificial intelligence industry’s demand for computing power that has sparked active discussions about the further expansion of the data center network.
According to Mayor Katie Wilson, during the moratorium, the city plans to assess the feasibility of using expensive urban land for such facilities.
The city is also considering imposing additional requirements on developers, such as investing in public transportation or residential construction in exchange for permits to carry out future projects.
One of the main arguments in favor of the restrictions was based on estimates published by local journalists this spring.
According to these estimates, the five proposed data centers could consume amounts of electricity equivalent to nearly one-third of the city’s current demand.
After this data emerged, civic organizations and some employees of tech companies in Seattle became more active.
In particular, representatives of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice organized a large-scale campaign of appeals to local authorities, during which officials received about 100,000 emails calling for a review of the policy on data center development.
Environmental activists emphasize that concerns extend beyond rising electricity consumption and the potential impact on the climate.
Some tech sector employees also link large-scale investments in artificial intelligence to risks for the labor market.
Over the past year, Amazon and Microsoft have laid off thousands of employees while simultaneously increasing funding for AI projects.
This is reported by The Guardian.
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