The A.I. Revolt Is Here | The Ezra Klein Show

What’s big and ugly and has united Republicans and Democrats? A.I. data centers. An overwhelming majority of Americans say they’d oppose a data center being built near where they live. In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul just imposed a one-year moratorium on data center construction, and there are over 100 other local or statewide moratorium proposals across the country. A.I.’s explosive momentum over the last few years seems to have finally run into a force that could slow it down: the messy politics of getting things done in the real world. So, is that a good thing, or a bad thing? And how much is the data center backlash about the actual construction of these buildings, and how much is it about A.I. itself? Jasmine Sun has an excellent newsletter covering both the culture inside the A.I. companies and the anger that’s been building against them. And she just finished a reporting trip in the Midwest, where she interviewed people on all sides of the data center fight. So I wanted to talk to her about what she saw and what she thinks A.I. companies can learn from the growing movement against them. 00:00:00 Political unity against A.I. data centers 00:04:04 Who opposes data centers? 00:08:35 Data centers' true environmental impact 00:22:42 Is A.I. an elite political project? 00:26:02 When big tech sues local democracy 00:30:15 A.I’.s hypocrisy and job displacement fears 00:33:17 Will A.I. create a permanent underclass? 00:46:06 The strange bedfellows of A.I. opposition 00:50:06 Data center bans: Shifting problems 00:52:40 Geopolitical leverage and compute inequality 00:56:56 China's unique A.I. perspective 01:04:49 A.I. industry's response to public anger 01:12:52 Silicon Valley wakes up to politics Read the full transcript here: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/op... Watch more on @EzraKleinShow Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com. You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-...