Will AI Data Centers Raise Electric Bills?

Bill Gates says AI data centers will find a way to be built somewhere in the United States without raising electric bills, without using too much water, and without being too noisy.

A one gigawatt project is a $40 billion investment, tied to building new schools, buying police cars, and paying taxes. There were mistakes, non-disclosures, and tax credits that were too generous, yet a lot of the data centers are still going full speed ahead and being built. The anti-data center movement will not minimize the bad effects of AI or help accelerate the good. Every new industry eventually develops a notion of safety for citizens, and airline safety and car safety show the country already does that job well.

Most of the leading companies went to the government and asked for regulation. Trump cannot stop it because the AI economy is the economy right now. He thinks the more the administration learns about the dangers, the more it will move to a more nuanced position about protecting Americans from the downside.