Data centers' 'oh s–t' moment
cdrnsf
28 points
28 comments
August 28, 2026
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Discussion Highlights (6 comments)
panny
In every good market crash, there's a flash point. In 2008, it was the Lehman Bros collapse and congress refusing the initial bailout. This might be the flashpoint, 75 data centers blocked this year and a supermajority of Americans against their construction.
xg15
> Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is positioning himself as a positive voice on AI Given Meta's (and also Mark's) reputation, I wonder how much that is helping the cause and how much its opponents...
skybrian
Carbon taxes are a tough sell, but I bet a carbon tax specifically on data centers would pass.
JohnMakin
It's been amazing to watch how tone-deaf these AI "thought leaders" and CEO's have been during this hype cycle. "look, we made this thing that's going to put everyone out of work, or destroy 99% of the planet except those of us who have built bunkers, leveraged a massive bet on the entire economy over it, if we're wrong we get bailed out by YOU, and guess what, it's coming to a neighborhood near you!" and they are surprised at the backlash or that people are tossing molotovs at them? It's just crazy to me the kind of bubble one must live in to not see this coming from a mile away.
justinsaccount
I think a lot of people out there are being manipulated about things that they don't understand. I saw some comments from people against a proposed data center at the site of an old power plant. I pointed out that it was a mile from anything. Someone replied saying that that was still too close, and that they wouldn't want to live 50 miles from a data center. We are 20 miles from Ashburn.
paradox242
The tech oligarchs and their boosters are doing more to radicalize the US populace than Bernie or AOC ever could. The mask has been slipping for a while, but a combination of Trump getting elected and AI psychosis has lead to a lot of premature celebration over their belief in being the new masters of the permanent underclass. Now the the mask is completely off and revealed them for the disgusting reptiles they have always been.