How We Build: Data Centers & Energy Infrastructure
Communities in 35 states are pushing back on data centers, making them among the most contested building projects in America right now. The debate isn't pro vs. anti-AI.
How We Build: Data Centers & Energy Infrastructure brings people from different sides of the buildout into one room.
If you build or fund anything in AI, your roadmap runs through compute, whether you train your own models or build on someone else's. And compute now runs through power, land, water, and community identity.
Speed still matters. On its own, it runs into walls in this context. Building through these tensions takes a new playbook, and it's being written in real time. Data centers are where this is playing out now, and they won't be the last.
Why This Conversation? Why Now?
These tensions are already loud. Communities across geographies, ideologies, and incomes are pushing back hard.
The politics don't break along familiar lines. Some labor unions are among the strongest proponents of data center buildouts because of the construction jobs and long-term employment they create, putting them in unexpected alignment with major technology companies and at odds with some environmental and community groups that have historically been allies. Meanwhile, local officials are caught between the jobs and tax revenue a project promises and the voters demanding answers on the grid, the water, and what gets disclosed.
Nobody resolves this level of backlash in an afternoon. The point is to understand the real tradeoffs on the table and build the relationships that make the next decision more sound.
Who’s In The Room?
Attendees include founders, investors, policymakers and community leaders representing the full range of perspectives on data center development.
Confirmed Speakers:
Mark Chung — Co-founder & CEO, Verdigris
Tim Wang — Managing Partner, Keymaker VC
The Hon. Gina Ortiz Jones — Mayor, San Antonio, TX
Derrick Tang — Head of Programs, New Energy Nexus
Joseph Cruz — Executive Director, California State Council of Laborers
Additional speakers to be announced
This convening is designed for:
Founders building the infrastructure behind AI: cooling, power, and grid systems
Founders building on AI whose cost and capacity ride on that buildout
Investors across AI infrastructure, applications, energy infrastructure, and industrial technology
Public policy leaders who want to understand how startup builders and investors are thinking
Civil society organizations engaged on energy, land use, and community impact
Senior leaders in organizations shaped by the expansion of AI compute
The Rules of the Road
Chatham House: take what you hear, leave out who said it
Come to understand, not to pitch
When and Where
Monday, June 22, 2026
Discussion: 1:30 - 5:00pm PT
Reception: 5:00 - 6:00pm PT
San Francisco (Location to be provided to approved participants)
Space is limited and curated. All attendees are reviewed and approved before confirmation.
Reserve Your Seat
Request to attend at the top of this Luma page.