Among the nearly 100 pages of risk factors outlined in Anthropic PBC’s landmark initial public offering are the catastrophic threats to humanity that have grabbed headlines. But it also flagged a more immediate concern that could derail business: mounting backlash against data centers.
Public controversy and regulatory scrutiny over the environmental impact, land and water use as well as consumption of limited power resources threaten to delay or prevent data-center development, Anthropic warns in the prospectus. That would raise costs and limit its ability to scale, develop and deploy AI models, it says.
The company is right to worry. Hatred toward data centers has united people across the political spectrum and around the globe. Warning that the technology could create existential risks probably doesn’t inspire anyone to want to give the AI boom a physical address in their backyards.
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