AI data centers have been a big topic for many rural communities in Minnesota, such as Farmington, Hermantown, North Mankato and more. I was interested when I came across a podcast on AI data center in black neighborhoods from The Miseducation of Technology. The issues sound similar to those I’ve heard in rural Minnesota. The recommendations are also similar. But sometimes it’s easier to see the issues and recommendations more clearly when we’re not talking about our park or our water bills.

Here’s a description from and link to the podcast itself…

In this episode of The Miseducation of Technology, Attorney Danielle A. Davis breaks down what’s really behind Microsoft’s new “community-first” promise on AI data centers—and why that announcement didn’t come out of nowhere.

The conversation starts where most tech policy discussions don’t: with culture.

In 2025, R&B singer SZA publicly questioned the environmental cost of AI—calling out energy use, pollution, and why Black cities like Memphis keep ending up on the receiving end. What sounded like a celebrity tweet was actually a warning rooted in lived experience.

Because while AI is often sold as “cloud-based” and abstract, for many Black communities it is physical, loud, and permanent—arriving in the form of massive data centers that consume enormous amounts of power and water, strain local grids, and reshape land use with little community input.

So why did Microsoft suddenly promise to:

• Cover electricity costs
• Reduce and replenish water use
• Stop asking for tax breaks
• Invest in local training and education

And more importantly—what does that actually solve… and what does it leave untouched?