Gov. Kathy Hochul defended a one-year pause on new giant AI data centers, saying it protects power, water and communities while the state writes new rules.
Gov. Kathy Hochul says New York's one-year pause on new giant AI data centers is meant to protect the power grid, the water supply and local communities. She defended the move in an interview on Good Day New York, a FOX 5 New York show.
The moratorium, which is a temporary halt, applies to new hyperscale AI data centers, the very large kind. A data center is a building full of computers that store and process information, including the systems behind AI tools. These sites use a lot of power and water. The state plans to write new rules for them while the pause is in place.
In the same interview, Hochul also weighed in on homelessness, affordability, ICE enforcement and daylight saving time.
The state has also announced the AI Jobs Institute in Queens, run with the training group Pursuit. It aims to train 40,000 New Yorkers by 2032. City Council Speaker Julie Menin has said AI regulation is necessary but should not "stifle innovation." She wants New York City to stay "the AI capital of the country."
The available material does not say what the new rules will require or how large a data center must be to count as hyperscale. It also does not say how the pause could affect local energy supply or bills. Those details will decide how much this reaches households and businesses.
New York is pausing new giant AI data centers for a year, and the rules written during that time could shape local power supply and costs.
AMD's data center sales rose 97% in the third quarter, a sign of heavy demand for AI computing that could affect what businesses pay for tech.
Read more: AMD's data center sales nearly doubled, lifting record quarterA SemiAnalysis site visit found a Chinese AI data center campus built at about a fifth of US cost, with no public backlash. Here is why that matters for AI prices.
Read more: China builds giant AI data centers fast and at a fifth of US costMajor environmental groups now use AI to study climate data and track fires, while warning that the data centers behind AI carry their own environmental cost.
Read more: Environmental groups use AI to fight climate change, despite its energy cost
