The governor of Maine, Janet Mills, has vetoed a invoice that halts the development of enormous knowledge facilities within the state till the autumn of 2027. Whereas the invoice handed each homes of the Maine's legislature on April 14, and Mills has prompt she'd assist a brief moratorium, the governor needed a invoice that might exempt an present knowledge heart challenge in Jay, Maine.
The invoice particularly blocked the development of information facilities that eat 20 megawatts of energy or extra and directs state companies and different entities to not challenge permits until proposed tasks fall underneath these vitality wants. Passing the invoice would additionally require the creation of a "Maine Information Heart Coordination Council" that might "present strategic enter, facilitate coordinated state planning concerns and consider coverage instruments to deal with knowledge heart alternatives and associated advantages and dangers to the State."
Whereas Mills killed this try at knowledge heart regulation, she mentioned she would signal an govt order calling for the creation of a council just like the one proposed within the invoice. She additionally signed LD 713, a invoice that prohibits knowledge facilities from collaborating in Maine’s enterprise improvement tax incentive applications.
Maine is way from the one state pursuing knowledge heart bans or non permanent blocks. There are not less than 12 different states exploring related laws, like New York, the place lawmakers just lately launched a invoice that might block the development of recent knowledge facilities for not less than three years. On the federal stage, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Consultant Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) endorsed a invoice that might not solely create a moratorium on new knowledge heart development, but in addition any upgrades to present amenities.
Any want to decelerate AI improvement or the infrastructure that makes it doable runs counter to the calls for of tech firms, and the attitude of the Trump administration, who's actively encouraging quicker AI buildout within the US. President Donald Trump's current AI framework even referred to as for the method of constructing and powering knowledge facilities to be streamlined in March.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/maine-governor-vetoes-bill-temporarily-banning-large-data-centers-in-the-state-210407936.html?src=rss