Trump's AI push accelerates data center construction, sparking public backlash. Over half of Americans support a national ban, and anti-data center candidates won primaries in Michigan and Kansas. Energy prices rise amid Trump's Iran conflict, and data centers exacerbate grid strain.

Trump's solution—making AI firms build their own power—led to a nonbinding pledge from Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI. Yet the nation's largest grid operator projects billions in added consumer costs. Instead of clean energy, the administration's plan fuels a gas-plant boom: at least 82 gas-burning plants are proposed or under construction to power data centers, per the Environmental Integrity Project.

Texas fast-tracks permits with little oversight, positioning to surpass Virginia as the top data center market. Elon Musk acquired a rapid-deployment turbine company to capitalize. A Meta center near El Paso exemplifies the trend. Meanwhile, Chinese open-source AI gains traction in Africa, an AI "boss" proved overly lenient in a San Francisco test, and Google Earth's generative tool briefly enabled deepfake aerial imagery.