Politico

The AI-driven data center boom is colliding with the politics of affordability, and House candidates are increasingly caught in the middle. Across the country, data centers have become targets of community opposition to rising electricity bills, water consumption, land use and the influence of Big Tech. In Wisconsin, community dissent has disrupted five data center proposals.

A growing movement in state capitals is trying to get ahead of fears that artificial intelligence will soon be able to use troves of data on every American to pinpoint exactly how much someone is willing to pay for a gallon of milk or a plane ticket. As concerns about the cost of living and anxieties about AI’s impact on everyday life continue to rise, lawmakers are pushing regulations to prevent algorithms from using personal data gathered from mobile apps, web browsers and other online tools to automatically estimate the highest price a person is willing to pay.

Donald Trump’s so-called Donroe Doctrine has included saber-rattling towards Venezuela, Panama, and Cuba; tough talk towards the leftist leaders of Colombia and Brazil; and overt interference in the elections of Argentina and Honduras. But when it comes to small, landlocked Paraguay, the Trump administration has deployed a different playbook: assiduous, patient diplomacy enlivened by the government’s newly aligned interests in making the country a hub for U.S.-backed data center projects.

China was likely behind an online influence operation to sway U.S. perceptions of artificial intelligence technology and reshape the debate in Washington around the infrastructure needed to support it, according to research from OpenAI. OpenAI said it caught the influence campaign because China-backed operatives were using ChatGPT to create content for the social media campaign.

The EU is moving to counter American dominance in technology by reaching for one of the oldest tools in its arsenal: industrial strategy. As the European Commission unveiled a plan to reduce Europe’s reliance on the foreign technology providers that underpin the modern economy, it was careful to stress that it was not picking a fight with U.S. digital giants.

Among people of faith with strong ties to Silicon Valley, no one faces a thornier dilemma when confronting Pope Leo’s encyclical on artificial intelligence than Vice President JD Vance (R-OH).  The country’s most powerful Catholic, Vice President Vance, is also surely aware of growing AI skepticism on the religious right. At the same time, he has championed President Donald Trump’s broadly hands-off approach to AI and is a longtime Peter Thiel ally.

Whether they fully appreciate it or not, Californians will be deciding on the future of global AI regulation when they head to the voting booths on June 1. AI is a hot button issue across the world, but much of the national and international policy governing the technology still begins in California, where the most advanced AI labs are headquartered.