As everyone knows, there has been a huge explosion in AI, artificial intelligence. If you have used any of the popular models like ChatGPT, then you know they can be a great benefit for research and creative expression. The downside is that more and more hyperscale data centers are being constructed. These are not ordinary data centers filled with racks of disk drives serving webpages and videos to the Internet. The original data centers were filled with spinning disk drives to store and retrieve data. Now, most have been converted to solid state drives, SSDs, that consume only 4 to 5 watts each. Thousands of them in a data center could collectively use kilowatts or even some megawatts of power.
But hyperscale AI data centers, are actually massive compute centers with huge racks of computers combined with powerful graphics processing units, GPUs, to do complex math that creates an artificial neural network, an artificial brain as it were. These are used to create the AI models like ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude. They are massive in scale, called hyperscale, consuming hundreds or thousands of megawatts of power, enough to power a large city. Some of them are connected to the grid for power, and use so much power that they raise utility rates for people living nearby. President Trump, on 8/22/26, said: "The data centers now are mandated by me that they build their own electricity, so they're not taking it from the grid."
This is great in one sense, it takes the burden of higher cost off of utility customers. But there's a dark side. On-site generators consume massive amounts of fuel which leads to massive particulate pollution. Pollution spreads for tens of miles in every direction. It blankets the whole region. Massive pollution will cause an explosion of disease and death. Pollution kills, especially children, who are more susceptible. We do not yet have the technology to build safe power-on-site hyperscale data centers.
Hyperscale Data Centers Are Deadly, Here’s Why.
The effects of pollution are well-known. We know from the smog days of LA that pollution kills. Even from a 1-2GW Hyperscale AI Data Center, we can expect nearby deaths in the multi-hundreds every year and local healthcare costs rising by $3.7 to $7.4 billion dollars. This is why we must reject AI Data Centers until there is a safe way to power them. The human cost is too great and the financial cost is astronomical. The financial benefit of a data center is usually in the tens of millions ($40 million) in new taxes for the area, but the financial losses due to healthcare are in the thousands of millions ($billions).
Pollution of Fine Particulates are Deadly
Particulates in the PM2.5 and Ultrafine size (2.5-.01 microns) are massively produced by data centers. Especially now that data centers are being mandated to produce their own power. We can expect so see:
• More cardiovascular disease: heart attacks, stroke, arrhythmia, heart failure, atherosclerosis
• Respiratory: asthma, COPD, reduced lung function, pneumonia
• Lung cancer (PM2.5 is IARC Group 1 carcinogen)
• Premature death – all-cause mortality, strongest evidence of any air pollutant
• Low birth weight, preterm birth
• Emerging evidence: cognitive decline, dementia risk
My researched opinion is that we must REJECT on-site-powered data centers until we can find a way to power them safely.
Save The Children, Reject Hyperscale Data Centers
People do not want these hyperscale beasts. 70% of Americans already reject them. The reason is that they are dangerous to life.
A woman in my area wrote to me, "I have a toddler and another baby on the way. We are terrified of how this will impact our children." She is right to be worried because county leaders look at potential tax income, they don't see the massive destruction these hyperscale data centers will cause. The human cost is massive both in health and financial losses. These costs are estimated to be hundreds of lives lost and thousands of lives burdened with severe health complications every year. A total tragedy. It can be avoided by waiting until we have the technology to build safely. For now, hyperscale data centers should be strongly REJECTED.