Evan Halper

In a bid to tamp down growing unrest in communities over tech giants’ expansion of power-hungry data centers, President Donald Trump said his administration would push Silicon Valley companies to ensure their massive computer farms do not drive up people’s electricity bills, seizing on a promise Microsoft made public to be a better neighbor. The Trump administration has gone all in on artificial intelligence, pushing aside concerns within the MAGA movement and seeking to 

One float stood out among the tinsel and holiday cheer at the annual Christmas parade in Sand Springs (OK): an unsightly data center with blinding industrial lights and smoke pouring out of its roof, towering menacingly over a helpless gingerbread house. Sand Springs, bordering Tulsa, is a battleground, one of many across the country, where companies seeking to build massive data centers to win the artificial intelligence (AI) race with China are coming up against the reality of local politics.