K. C. Rybski 🔅

Generally speaking, voters want data center moratoriums in the same sense that they want tariffs. Did voters ask for tariffs? Yes. Did they want them in practice? Absolutely no. Voters wanted prices to go down & for communities that were hollowed out to be revitalized. Do voters want data center moratoriums? Yes. But do they want the results of a data center moratorium? Almost certainly not. Data centers are enormous mechanisms of wealth redistribution. They are huge projects built in otherwise abandoned communities and they funnel money directly into the hands of the people who need it the most. A single project can double the total tax revenue of the local area, meaning if you want, you can completely cut tax revenues of the area. If you ask a voter why they dislike data centers, they may say "water" or "noise", but tell them that the water usage is a myth & they can be made without noise, and they'll change their position to something else. Voters don't care at all about data centers. They care about AI. They're being told that AI might go rogue & that the AI might take their jobs. The correct response from Democrats should be to hear their constituents and then to work to address the underlying concerns. But the in-practice reality of banning data centers in the US means that the things voters actually care about like regulating AI & ensuring we redistribute the wealth created by it, become significantly harder. The in-practice effect is that AI labs build data centers overseas, where it's harder to regulate them, harder to tax them, and nobody except the AI labs sees the economic value from them. I believe Democrats have talked themselves into believing this works, just as Republicans talked themselves into tariffs, because they believe things that are inaccurate. A common concern I hear is "AI is a bubble". The belief is that there is simply no ROI to these data center projects. Democrats need to have a come to jesus moment here. First, you either get to believe that AI is going to go rogue or you get to believe it's useless and a bubble. It's not both. It just is the case that AI is useful & has ROI. Anthropic has 80% margins. The AI solved millennium prize problems. If you do not believe this, and you are a congressional staffer, please DM me, I am happy to organize a visit to companies in San Francisco. We'll give you a ride in a self driving car and you can see how the AI is used all over the place in science & engineering. It is also the case that there are meaningful risks and harms in AI. Democrats should understand that the AI industry is a meaningful partner. It is not asking saying "AI is dangerous" as a marketing ploy. Seriously. That does not make sense and you know it. We must rebuild trust between DC & SF. Democrats should reignite the bond between liberalism and it's science & technology industries. Science & technology is not your enemy; it is the driving force of antipoverty, better healthcare, and for American progress. Democrats & Republicans alike must stop filling their information spheres with voices that constantly make false predictions. Democrats, please understand that Ed Zitron & Timnit are considered the anti-vaxers of AI. Republicans, please understand that the VCs claiming to be experts in AI have consistently been wrong over and over. They'd be a lot richer if they were right. It just is the case that Sama and Dario are not trying to end the world. These are people who you can work with. You almost could not ask for better organizations to be steering this technology. Are they perfect? Absolutely not. But they are fundamentally aligned with humanity & with America. Democrats must learn the actual, factual realities of data center projects. There are definitely harms to be mitigated & we should mitigate them. But there are equally tremendous benefits we must ensure land in the hands of the people. It must be the case that we tax these things and land the cash into a wide variety of pockets. The average voter is not asking Democrats to swoop in & to construct a scenario in which people in SF and Malaysia get rich, but the rest of the country gets hollowed out. They are not asking for a scenario in which AI migrates outside of the regulatory domain of the United States & agents run loose causing chaos. In order for Democrats to consistently win elections, they must be competent in helping the American people. The execution matters. The good must be done, not just said or prophesied.