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Across the United States, people are pushing back against data centers and demanding more public oversight and public benefit, often passing moratoriums, or pauses, on their construction.
But what if we had other options? What can compute infrastructure look like if approached as public AI—centering public access, accountability, and sustainability? A growing number of advocates are pushing for meaningful alternatives that expand access to computing power without compromising the public interest.
On September 10th from noon-2pm ET, Aspen Digital hosted a virtual event featuring a variety of builders and thinkers who are reimagining what data centers could be, from tiny distributed networks to public-owned utilities. We discussed the role of librarians, farmers, community advocates, and all of us in creating a more public computing future.
Agenda
What is a data center, anyway?
DIY & COMMUNITY COMPUTE
Preston Rhea
Principal, Tech and Society Studio, HR&A Advisors
Dr. Tara Merk
Postdoctoral Researcher, Weizenbaum Institute
Rob Lach
Founder, Love Computing
Dr. Andre Kudra
Co-Founder, real-cis GmbH; CIO, esatus AG
How can data centers be environmentally beneficial?
RESILIENCE & REGENERATION
Dr. Sasha Luccioni
Co-founder& Chief Scientific Officer, Sustainable AI Group
Tony Lai
Fellow, Stanford CodeX & Public AI
Why would you want a data center in your community?
SHARED BENEFITS & LOCAL CONTROL
Matthew Victor
Executive Director for Digital Civic Infrastructure, Partners In Democracy
Larissa Schiavo
CEO, Grove Research
Matthew “Speygee” Douglas
Broadband Manager, Hoopa Valley Public Utilities District
Dr. Dorn Cox
Research Director & Ecosystem Steward, OpenTEAM
Moderator
B Cavello
Director of Emerging Technologies, Aspen Digital
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