On the evening of June 4, the New York State legislature passed a bill to enact a one-year moratorium on the construction of data centers in the state. If signed into law, this law would make New York the first in the United States to implement a statewide moratorium as public support for the energy- and water-hungry facilities craters from coast to coast.

Now, the fate of New York’s data center moratorium lies in the hands of Governor Kathy Hochul. As we reported in May, Governor Hochul has staked out a decidedly pro-AI position, establishing AI computing centers at state universities, touting Tesla billionaire Elon Musk’s short-lived plan to build an AI supercomputer at a state-owned facility in Buffalo, and keeping mum on plans to subsidize a massive data center in rural Western New York.

This support for AI comes as Hochul has banked hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors in the AI industry and the closely-associated “effective altruism” community.

Last fall we reported how Governor Hochul’s efforts to thwart New York’s climate change response came amid a multi-million dollar spending spree by fossil fuel corporations and following a series of closed-door fundraisers for Hochul by fossil fuel lobbyists. 

Will Hochul uphold the will of the people and sign the data center moratorium into law? Or will she bend the knee to her corporate donors and their armies of Albany influence peddlers once again?

At LittleSis, we’ll continue to keep our eyes on the ties between Governor Hochul and the AI industry, following the money and mapping the networks of corporate power in New York and across the nation.

Onward,

LittleSis