LIVE Computer Says Maybe @ Climate Week
Hearing a lot about AI and data center expansion? That it's happening quickly, behind closed doors, putting huge demands on strained energy grids, leading to rising utility costs, reversing climate progress, and draining water from communities?
Maybe you're also questioning the future we're all being locked into via this AI-fueled infrastructure expansion? Yeah, us too.
At Climate Week, we’re bringing together the voices that are fighting on the frontlines of the AI data center boom: for their communities, their water, their air, and all our futures.
You’ll hear from speakers from around the US as they share their stories of local communities trying to wrestle control of their destinies from big tech companies:
KeShaun Pearson (Memphis Community Against Pollution) will break down how Elon Musk’s xAI supercomputer is polluting the air of historically Black neighborhoods in Memphis, and how organizers are fighting back against yet another chapter of corporate extraction in their communities
Marisol (No Desert Data Center) will share about their grassroots coalition’s recent win in Tucson to stop Amazon’s Project Blue data center proposal, which threatened the city’s scarce water supply, and how they’re organizing for future protections.
KD Minor (Alliance for Affordable Energy) will demystify the energy impacts of data centers in Louisiana and share organizing strategies to mobilize community opposition to Big Tech and Big Oil infrastructure.
Amba Kak (AI Now Institute) will talk us through the bigger picture: what’s behind Big Tech’s AI data center expansion, who stands to benefit from this boom, and what we sacrifice in return.
Doors open at 16:30, we'll be kicking off the live recording at 17:00 to 18:00, and then hosting a networking event with drinks and nibbles until close at 19:00 so you can get dinner with your favorite people after.
The event is invite-only. If there’s someone you think should be in the room, please let us know. Space is tight, but we'll see what we can do! This also means we'll ask all registrants to reconfirm their attendance 2 days before the event. Thanks for understanding!
All proceeds will go directly to the community organizers featured in the show.
About The Maybe
The Maybe is a media studio, consultancy, and collective dedicated to challenging the power and politics of tech. Computer Says Maybe is our weekly podcast hosted by Alix Dunn.
We're co-hosting the networking event with our friends over at the AI Now Institute, Common Wealth and Climate and Community Institute (CCI).
AI Now is an independent research institute equipping the field with expert analysis to challenge and reimagine the current trajectory of AI.
Common Wealth is a think tank, operating across the UK and US, focused on reimagining ownership to build an economy that works for everyone. We work with a variety of organisations from community and grassroots groups to national and international policymakers, combining rigorous analysis and research with bold ideas for change.
The Climate and Community Institute (CCI) is a progressive climate and economy think tank working with movements and progressive policy makers to pass new policy, improve implementation, shift narratives, and deepen coalitions.
Thank you to Luminate for sponsoring! Luminate is a global foundation working at the intersection of technology, social justice and human rights.