Sam Altman and other technology leaders used a G20 gathering in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to promote artificial intelligence and the need for more data centres, while hundreds of protesters outside voiced fears about pollution, jobs and who controls the technology’s future.
The two-day G20 Innovation Ministerial, which concluded on Wednesday, was hosted by the US Department of Commerce and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy at the Carolina Inn, beside the University of North Carolina campus.
Inside, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick held a series of discussions with senior technology executives, including OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, Nvidia boss Jensen Huang and Palantir chief executive Alex Karp. Elon Musk took part remotely.
During a fireside chat with Mr Lutnick, Mr Altman described artificial intelligence as “incredible magic of intelligence in a bottle” and said the industry would need to keep expanding its physical infrastructure.
“Even with great gains in efficiency, we are going to need to build much more infrastructure, unless we want this to be a highly priced model, which we don’t,” he said.
The ministerial ended with a consensus statement in which G20 countries said emerging technologies could improve productivity, expand opportunity and support economic growth. It also set out the so-called Carolina Principles, calling for greater investment in research, stronger routes from scientific development to commercial use and wider adoption of trusted technology.
Outside the hotel, the message was markedly different. Students, local residents and campaigners marched from the university’s Old Well to the Carolina Inn, carrying signs opposing artificial intelligence and the construction of large-scale data centres.
Demonstrators banged pots and pans, blew kazoos and used rubber chickens in what organisers described as a sound disruption intended to mimic the constant noise associated with data-centre sites. Chants included calls for greater investment in education and opposition to Mr Altman.
Rob, a college student who gave only his first name, said protesters were concerned about the impact of data centres on local communities.
“We are mad because AI data centers are polluting the water and the air in many communities,” he said.
Melisande Timblin, a 2005 graduate of the university, questioned claims that such projects would deliver lasting employment.
“They come in and they sell them a big lie. They say we’re going to build these data centers. It’s going to provide hundreds of jobs building this data center. Okay, you’re going to give these people jobs for just a few years while you build it,” she said.
John Montavon, a local resident and former teacher, said he was not opposed to technology itself but questioned whether the executives and investors gathered inside the hotel should be trusted to determine its direction.
“I’m concerned about the future of our communities,” he said.
Data centres become focus of AI backlash
The protest reflects a wider backlash against data centres, which have become the most visible part of the artificial intelligence boom. Residents in communities across the United States have objected to the facilities’ demands for electricity and water, as well as concerns over noise, pollution and the effect on local infrastructure.
Activists staged 142 demonstrations against data-centre projects across 42 states in July, according to Reuters. An Economist and YouGov poll published this week found that nearly two-thirds of Americans opposed building a data centre in their local area.
In North Carolina, dozens of local authorities have introduced moratoriums or tighter planning rules as proposals spread across the state. More than 3,000 data centres are planned or under construction nationally, in addition to roughly 4,000 already operating, according to the Associated Press.
The issue is also becoming politically significant. In Texas, where the industry has expanded rapidly, Republican Governor Greg Abbott has proposed stricter rules, while Attorney General Ken Paxton has taken a tougher position as he campaigns for a Senate seat.
Industry executives argue that more computing capacity is essential if advanced AI is to become cheaper and available to a wider public. They also point to construction work and related services created by the expansion, while saying that widespread job losses from AI have yet to appear.
In Loudoun County, Virginia, home to the world’s largest concentration of data centres, local officials have said revenues from the industry have helped them reduce residential property tax rates each year for the past decade.
But the optimism expressed inside the Carolina Inn has done little to resolve the industry’s trust problem. Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei recently said the public had lost confidence in artificial intelligence and that the sector might need a major breakthrough, such as a cure for cancer, to rebuild it.
Mr Altman and Mr Amodei have also moderated earlier warnings about the effect of AI on employment. Mr Amodei has shifted from predicting that the technology could replace half of white-collar jobs to describing it as a multiplier of employment, while Mr Altman has said a “jobs apocalypse” is unlikely.
For the demonstrators in Chapel Hill, however, the immediate concern was less about forecasts of automation than about the communities being asked to accommodate the infrastructure required to deliver it.
