This map tracks data center projects and AI principles around the world

When Oregon resident Isabelle Reksopuro heard that Google was buying public land to expand their data center, at first she didn’t know what to believe. “There is a lot of misinformation about data centers,” he said. “Google refused to take the place.”

Technically, he explains, The Dalles, a city near the border of Washington state, wanted to reclaim the land, “and Google is a big, unnamed user of electricity.” The city really had it asked for ownership of a 150-acre portion of the Mount Hood National Forest, saying it needs access to Mount Hood’s slopes to meet urban needs as its population — 16,010 as of the 2020 census — grows. But critics, including environmentalists, say the city is trying to get more water from Google, which has a Data Center campus in The Dallas which already consumes about a third of the city’s water supply.

The controversy led Mr. Reksopuro to want to know about the return of the data center being built in other areas. So Reksopuro, a student at the University of Washington who studies the connection between technology and public policy, decided to create a map. Use of information collected by Epoch AI and what was removed from the rules on data devices, he made discussion map following AI principles around the world. They made it easy for everyone to use. “I wanted it to be something my younger sisters could play and explore to understand what’s in the area and what’s going on,” Reksopuro said. He hopes to change their minds that way, “instead of just wanting to, through TikTok.”

Four times a day, the map searches for new data and checks it against the existing Reksopuro database. “Then, it writes a new summary, adds it to the news, and sets it aside,” he said. “I wanted it to change myself, since I’m a student.”

Reksopuro isn’t against data centers, but he thinks tech companies benefit from a lack of transparency around data center policies. “At the moment, it’s a bit of a blur – and all of a sudden, there’s a place,” he said. “I think that if people already knew about the data center, it would help them to be able to talk about it: ask for job training, tax money, environmental management, things to improve their community.”