Maybe it’s buyer’s remorse.
After Louisiana officials welcomed hyperscale data centers with extractive tax rebates and secretive dealings, a bipartisan wave of resistance is brewing to restrict the very artificial technology the facilities were built to create.
At least three major data centers are coming to Louisiana, the largest being the Manhattan-sized Meta “Hyperion” project in Richland Parish that will take 10 new natural gas plants to power. Its registered water use of 23 million gallons per day would nearly double water withdrawals of the entire parish, according to documents filed with the state transportation department.
Since Meta’s announcement, Louisiana legislators have filed at least 24 bills this legislative session seeking to restrict the use of artificial intelligence, from limiting its exposure to minors to requiring disclosures for chat bots in medical care.
Midway through the session, nine of the bills are moving through the process, another 12 are waiting to be considered, while four have been deferred or withdrawn.
