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AI Data Centers Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg

These destructive behemoths are part of a broader model of total extraction—particularly in rural areas.

A yard sign opposing a planned data center is displayed along Route 54 in Mount Carmel Township, Pennsylvania.

In 1970, Ivan Illich wrote Toward a History of Needs, a critique of the increasingly widespread belief that technological change was not only inevitable but nearly always a net good for society. Illich feared our growing dependence on rapidly emerging technologies and those that control them. Farmer and writer Wendell Berry made a similar argument in his 1977 book, The Unsettling of America, describing the process by which people and whole communities are “de-skilled,” their capacity to care for themselves and their neighbors atrophied.

In many ways, these dark visions are now unfolding. In particular, artificial intelligence is driving us toward de-skilling on a massive scale. This de-skilling, if it continues, will enable concentrated economic and political power at a level that will make the present seem egalitarian by comparison. And it will include the loss of hundreds of millions of jobs along the way, not as a byproduct but a feature, as evidenced by Open AI’s definition of AI as “highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work.”

As described by my colleague Erica Etelson, the explosive growth of AI data centers has catalyzed a backlash in communities across the country. Residents are uniting across party lines in opposition to the noise, land use, and extraordinary levels of energy and water that data centers require. In response, promises of data centers fully powered by renewable energy or utilizing water-conserving cooling systems have emerged. Elon Musk promises to launch data centers into space, avoiding local land, water, and energy conflicts altogether.

It’s doubtful that such “green” data centers are even feasible. But based on the history of AI development, three outcomes are all but assured unless we act swiftly and decisively.

First, the AI arms race is propelling an unprecedented concentration of economic and political power. By the end of 2025, the top 10 CEOs and founders of AI and tech companies were worth $2.5 trillion, more than 8 percent of the total US GDP. This was before Elon Musk became a trillionaire.

The political influence of this tiny elite is large and growing, with a New York Times projection of at least $150 million being spent on the 2026 midterm races by AI companies and their allies. Alongside this spending are ongoing political influence campaigns ranging from the bullying threats of Musk to the charm offensive of Open AI CEO Sam Altman. A recently introduced bipartisan bill, dubbed the Great American Artificial Intelligence Act of 2026, is another example of the political power of the AI elite. It usurps the power of states to regulate AI and kicks the can down the road on the majority of the most critical concerns about AI, according to an analysis by Public Citizen.

The power of the biggest AI companies will encompass far more than oligarchy within this one industry,........

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