Artificial Intelligence and Data Centers in Georgia; What’s being done about it
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Atlanta has caught the eye of several major Artificial Intelligence companies, with many either having built or planning to build Data Centers near the city. According to Rough Draft Atlanta, Microsoft has large Data Centers in South Fulton and Douglasville. Another 12 million square foot site is possibly becoming a data center for Trammell Crow Co in Fulton County, as reported in the Atlantic Journal Constitution. Another article by the AJC reports that these data centers are going to increase the amount of power used in the area, likely causing energy prices for local residents to increase. However, there has been legislation such as SB 34 that restrict price increases due to the energy demand from Data Centers. The primary sponsor of the bill is Senator Chuck Hufstetler (R-district 52). Similarly, HB 528 sponsored by Representative Debbie Buckner (D-district 137), requires Data Centers to disclose their energy usage to increase transparency between the companies, the government, and the public. The debate over data centers has been happening since last year, as Gov. Kemp vetoed HB 1192 on March 7, 2024. This veto allowed for Data Center companies to continue to have breaks on sales tax. More recently, there has been bills such as HB 1012 sponsored by Representative Ruwa Romman (D-district 97), that seeks to block the development of more data centers. These Data Centers are used to fuel Artificial Intelligence systems, which many organizations and individuals in Georgia use and support. The following tweets are from the Emory School of Medicine, Tony West with Americans for Prosperity Georgia, and Ángel Cabrera with Georgia Institute of Technology.
Emory is a well known learning hospital and it’s work in Georgia can shape the future of healthcare. The school does not directly reference any bills, though it’s call for embracing AI correlates to current debates about AI and data centers in the Georgia General Assembly. It calls for using AI with “clear boundaries”, which may be a reference to potential legislation being needed to regulate AI. Additionally, the tweet promotes the use of AI which may fuel the need or desire for data centers. Legislators such as Rep. Romman seek to slow down the construction of the Data centers necessary for AI that Emory is promoting.
Tony west is a organization leader for the Americans for Prosperity Georgia. Here, he is referencing attempts to block the construction of Data Centers, such as we’ve seen in HB 1012 here in Georgia. Based on this tweet, West also disagrees with Gov. Kemp’s veto of HB 1192 last year, since passing the bill would’ve removed tax incentives for building Data Centers.
According to his twitter description, Angel Cabrera is personal friend of the President of the Georgia Institute of Technology, George P. Burdell’s. He frequently posts about news from Georgia Tech, including how Georgia Tech is growing into the artificial intelligence scene. Similarly, Georgia Tech’s twitter has multiple posts promoting AI. For this particular tweet, Cabrera is celebrating the increased AI developments in Georgia, which may cause less support for bills such as HB 1012 that restrict the construction of data centers in Georgia.
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