We're halfway through the Year of Data Center Backlash. Americans hate the massive AI factories, yet tech giants continue to foist them on communities amid the current AI arms race. That negative sentiment isn't difficult to understand: They're noisy, energy-sucking IRL avatars for a product that's promising to eliminate your job.
At least a dozen data center projects are at various stages of completion throughout Minnesota. Earlier this year, we brought you an in-depth look at the battle to stop Google's \"Project Loon\" hyperscale proposal up in Hermantown, and for this week's episode we're headed south to chat with Aubree Derksen and Nicole Mills, two residents of Pine Island who are fighting like hell against Google's \"Project Skyway.\" At the moment, they seem to be winning; earlier this week a judge ordered a temporary restraining order that halts construction of the 3-million-square-foot behemoth.
Before we have that conversation, however, we begin the pod with our usual segment, What I Learned in Racket. Here's what we learned:
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