A one-year ban on new large-scale data centers was approved by the full Seattle City Council on Tuesday.
The ban comes after 98,000 residents emailed comments to the city, almost all in support of the ban over the last several months, city council members said on Tuesday.
“Large AI data centers are popping up across the country, driving up utility costs for residents and small businesses, while creating water and noise pollution, said Councilmember Eddie Lin, who sponsored the legislation.
“We’ve heard from tens of thousands of residents – Seattleites should not be subsidizing record profits of large corporations from the AI boom.”
Lin said at the same time, the city hosts smaller facilities that provide data processing for 911 call centers, municipal activities, hospitals, universities and cancer research.
‘We can support these essential services while also developing appropriate safeguards around mega AI data centers locally and regionally,” he said.
The council’s approval is a victory for Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, who first called for a pause on data centers in March.
While Seattle has several dozen data centers, none are the large-scale, football-field-sized complexes that have sprung up across the country.
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