AI news story
‘We’re up against forces that have all the money in the world’: Erin Brockovich on her battle against AI datacentres
In 1993, she squeezed a $333m settlement from a Californian energy company in a scandal over contaminated water. Three decades later, she has a new target in her sights – and it’s global When Erin Brockovich woke to find 30 emails from peopl
Editor's take
Erin Brockovich is now organizing a global campaign against the proliferation of AI data centers, citing concerns over their environmental impact and potential health risks, mirroring her past fight against Pacific Gas and Electric.
This expansion of her activism highlights growing public awareness and opposition to the immense resource demands of AI infrastructure, particularly water usage for cooling and energy consumption. It signals a potential flashpoint between the rapid development of AI, driven by tech giants like Nvidia and Microsoft, and environmental justice movements.
Future attention should focus on the regulatory responses to these environmental concerns, the development of more sustainable cooling technologies for data centers, and whether Brockovich's campaign can mobilize sufficient political pressure to influence policy decisions regarding AI infrastructure deployment globally.
Signal score: 4
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Original reporting
This story summarises reporting published by The Guardian AI. Read the original article at The Guardian AI.