1 month ago
The politician of Maine, Janet Mills, has vetoed a bill that halts nan building of ample information centers successful nan authorities until nan autumn of 2027. While nan measure passed some houses of nan Maine's legislature connected April 14, and Mills has suggested she'd support a impermanent moratorium, nan politician wanted a measure that would exempt an existing information halfway task successful Jay, Maine.
The bill specifically blocked nan building of information centers that devour 20 megawatts of powerfulness aliases much and directs authorities agencies and different entities to not rumor permits unless projected projects autumn nether those power needs. Passing nan measure would besides require nan creation of a "Maine Data Center Coordination Council" that would "provide strategical input, facilitate coordinated authorities readying considerations and measure argumentation devices to reside information halfway opportunities and related benefits and risks to nan State."
While Mills killed this effort astatine information halfway regulation, she said she would motion an executive bid calling for nan creation of a assembly for illustration nan 1 projected successful nan bill. She besides signed LD 713, a measure that prohibits information centers from participating successful Maine’s business improvement taxation inducement programs.
Maine is acold from nan only authorities pursuing information halfway bans aliases impermanent blocks. There are astatine slightest 12 different states exploring akin legislation, for illustration New York, wherever lawmakers recently introduced a bill that would artifact nan building of caller information centers for astatine slightest 3 years. At nan national level, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) endorsed a bill that would not only create a moratorium connected caller information halfway construction, but besides immoderate upgrades to existing facilities.
Any desire to slow down AI improvement aliases nan infrastructure that makes it imaginable runs antagonistic to nan demands of tech companies, and nan position of nan Trump administration, who's actively encouraging faster AI buildout successful nan US. President Donald Trump's recent AI framework moreover called for nan process of building and powering information centers to beryllium streamlined successful March.
