Is the Tide Turning?

Dear Citizens,

Are tech lobbyists throwing in the towel? Yah baby! That is the unmistakable takeaway from POLITICO’s account of how Silicon Valley is losing its war against U.S. state AI laws. The U.S. federal government is still failing to act, but from Utah to New York, legislation is regulating everything from kids safety to data center usage. The takeaway? People power is having an impact.

Here’s what else to read, watch and do this week.

🇺🇸 ONE READ: “A Remarkable Fight” 🇺🇸

Did we say people power!? In the New York Times this week, David Wallace-Wells agrees that there’s something (good) in the water: “Americans are putting up a remarkable fight.”

In “Americans Agree on Almost Nothing. Except Data Centers,” Wallace-Wells takes stock of the extraordinary, bipartisan revolt against the physical machinery of the AI boom. Data centers have become the place where a technology that can feel abstract suddenly becomes intensely local: higher electricity bills, pressure on water and power supplies, constant noise and enormous projects imposed on communities that never asked for them. And those communities aren’t having it. Right on.

👀 Bonus read: While you’re at it, read more from us on the UK’s growing backlash against data centres in The Eye, our special newsletter series investigating how Big Tech’s expanding infrastructure is reshaping the state, our communities and shared resources.

💻 ONE WATCH: Two Times the Fun 💻

One great watch now, one for later!

Journalist Gil Duran has spent years documenting the political ideology taking shape among Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and a small circle of far-right tech elites. In this sharp Zeteo interview, he argues that their turn toward Trump is not a quirky culture-war detour.

👉 Watch here.

Also coming up: The Great Data Center Backlash, live! On September 10 at noon ET / 9 a.m. PT, WIRED reporters Molly Taft, Hugo Lowell, Maxwell Zeff and Tim Marchman are hosting a livestream AMA on the water- and power-hungry infrastructure behind the AI boom, and why it’s facing growing opposition across the political spectrum.

👉 Submit a question ahead of time here.

👊 ONE ACTION: Be Irreplaceable 👊

We haven’t stopped the climate crisis. But we can learn from that movement as we organize around big tech. Irreplaceable is a new people-powered movement led by veterans of the climate fight, including organizers from 350.org and the Sunrise Movement, who want ordinary people, not a few wealthy executives in Northern California, to decide how AI shapes our lives.

It’s early days, but this Atlantic profile looks at the organizers and the movement they hope to build. Give it a read, and if you’re moved to join, sign up here.

That’s all for this week,
Team Citizens

*PS - Join our Signal Chat if you haven’t already! 400+ people share practical advice on protecting your data, organising against Big Tech and staying ahead of what you need to know.