TechFlow reports, on July 14, the office of New York Governor Kathy Hochul stated that she plans to sign an executive order on Tuesday to halt the construction of large data centers, with the ban lasting up to one year. The ban takes effect immediately and applies to data centers with power consumption of 50 megawatts or more.
This moratorium will buy time for the state to formulate data center regulations that are both environmentally beneficial and ensure grid operation. This move makes New York the latest state to address infrastructure issues required by the AI boom. No other state has implemented similar suspension measures before. However, dozens of cities and counties across the US have issued temporary bans on data center construction, and many states have proposed similar bans.
As data centers continue to be built across the US, more and more communities oppose this and have driven the development of the anti-AI movement. Opponents believe that these data centers supporting artificial intelligence and computing systems may overwhelm local power supply and drive up resident utility costs. Some voters have even attempted to recall politicians supporting data center development. (Jin10)
