🎁FREE ACCESS to my new pub "The Environmental Impacts of AI" in the new Oxford Research Encyclopedia of STS. Beyond the hype, AI is an extractive force reliant on minerals, water, & energy. This entry introduces a 4-Scope framework to map AI's full lifecycle impacts. doi.org/10.1093/9780...

The DIGS Lab at the University of Virginia reviewed 700+ federal, state & local policies related to data centers. Project lead Dr. Lauren E. Bridges writes that while the era of unchecked growth fueled by tax breaks is waning, the new regulatory regime is fragmented, reactive, and heavily contested.

My latest in @techpolicypress.bsky.social on data center policy trends. “While the era of unchecked growth fueled by tax breaks is waning, the new regulatory regime is fragmented, reactive, and heavily contested.” www.techpolicy.press/the-state-of...

the kids are alright… Knights of Molino, middle-school punk band’s new single “Take back control” The first line: “I won’t be a slave to AI” knightsofmolino.bandcamp.com/track/take-b...

Years ago a mentor described my research on the community impacts of data centers as akin to the anti-nuclear movement. Today I learned more Americans now oppose AI data centers in their area (71%) than a Nuclear Power Plant (53%) news.gallup.com/poll/709772/...

Amazon just launched its Supply Chain Services - opening up its logistics business to all customers (not just the ones who sell on Amazon’s platform) My prediction: hold tight for job cuts in its new customers base, this is about finding new “efficiencies” www.supplychaindive.com/news/amazon-...

On Earth Day, celebrating a real victory: Warren Farm. Years of tireless campaigning. A community that refused to give up. Nature protected. Greed defeated. This is what people power looks like. 🌍

The results are in for the 1st mandatory reporting cycle under the EU Energy Efficiency Directive: “Europe set out to measure the environmental impact of data centers. Instead, it uncovered a sector operating without a clear view of its own footprint.” www.datacenterknowledge.com/compliance/e...

New study from PEC “Finds On-Site Power at Virginia Data Center Could Result in $53 Million–$99 Million in Annual Health Damages” www.pecva.org/resources/pr...

Important commentary here regarding water use of data centers. Data Centers Water Footprint: The Need for More Transparency - Privette - 2026 - AGU Advances - Wiley Online Library agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

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quite a big study here showing that actual emissions reductions for a bunch of different offsets types are significantly lower than how they're marketed This is exactly what you expect from a system that rewards maximum offset sales, not maximum climate action www.nature.com/articles/s41...

finally some news to celebrate

stunning new report on Carceral AI “a growing class of algorithmic and data-driven practices designed to police, incarcerate, surveil, and control people” with recommendations for divesting, blocking, resisting, and abolishing this oppressive & violent tech www.carceral-ai.com/what-is-carc...

Haven’t been here in a bit so for Bsky folks who may not know, @laurenebridges.bsky.social, myself, and a wonderful research team published this really cool multimedia project on e-waste called Geographies of Digital Wasting and y’all should check it out! www.geographiesofdigitalwasting.com

Thrilled to share my new article on “competing digital capacities” & data center tradeoffs out today in Information, Communication & Society as part of a special issue on “Platform, Power, & Friction” by special editors @ppopiel.sky.social & Krishnan Vasudevan www.tandfonline.com/eprint/NHB4H...

ICYMI, offsets are another arm of petrocapitalist business strategy, premised on enclosure & domination, and will not save anyone

One of the things I want folks to understand about the billionaires who forced the Penn pres to resign is they started all this before Oct 7 and among their complaints is that Penn “prioritizes DEI” is “too social justice focused” and is “unrecognizable” to what it looked like when they attended.

This week in the Disconnect Roundup: The EU AI Act has been finalized, but it has some big holes including those put there by OpenAI lobbyists. Plus, plenty of recommended reads, labor updates, and other news you might have missed!

The Labor Tech Research Network endorses DAIR's statement calling for a #CeasefireNOW and #NoTechForApartheid. Read the full statement here: www.dair-institute.org/blog/palesti...

Forensic Architecture event gets cancelled by Technical University Aachen, one of Germany’s largest and most prestigious STEM universities, ffs