AI industry's transparency gambit fails to sway data center opponents
Source: TechCrunch
The AI sector's offer to drop non-disclosure agreements with communities resisting data center projects signals deeper structural conflict: local opposition isn't driven by information asymmetry but by genuine resource competition for water, power, and land, plus unequal risk distribution. Removing NDAs treats the problem as a messaging failure when communities are correctly identifying that benefits flow to tech companies and venture capital while environmental and infrastructure costs remain local. Transparency won't resolve that misalignment of incentives.