Portside

The industry can be a black box of information. But as the state deals with persistent drought, residents and regulators want more answers. Data centers could bring about water shortages in a state where water availability can vary widely.

Big Tech has amassed extraordinary power and now exerts control over the entire economy. Europe can no longer afford to remain captive to Big Tech networks. The solution lies in building an alternative digital ecosystem.

We face potential unemployment on par with the Great Depression. We need a mass employment program to get through it. AI can pay for it. An AI tax should target the companies that stand to make billions of dollars by laying people off.

Reader Comments: Close Delaney Hall, Release Detainees; Pope's Encyclical; Future and Soul of Democratic Party; 60 Minutes Blowup; Data Centers Suck Water, Electricity; Submit Public Comment To Save Science; Israeli War Criminals at Israel Day Parade

In his new encyclical, Pope Leo XIV revives the importance of the dignity of labor. So leave it to the pope to enliven our conversation about artificial intelligence by reviving the idea that work is intrinsic to human dignity.

Reader Comments: Trump Vigilante Slush Fund; Readers Debate 2024 Democratic "Autopsy"; Israeli Occupation Extended; Stephen Colbert; Boots Riley; Comics and War; Hundreds of NYC Restaurants Offer $26 World Cup Specials; Brockovich AI Data Center Maps

Once upon a time, they were counterculture idealists bringing power to the people. Today they’re greedy monopolists who’d sooner destroy our democracy than be reined in by government in any way—and they have to be stopped.

The vote suggests ballot measures could become a powerful new tool for grassroots activists seeking to block data center projects.