WhoWhatWhy82%
While Congress Waits, New York Tightens the Reins on Data Centers and Chatbots 36%
By Jenna Jarrah51%
7/31/2026, 12:33:11 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 29 faulty reasoning types, including Pessimism Bias, Politically Left Leaning Bias, and Appeal to Authority, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 25.3% saturation with 266 hits. Analysis detected 1,529 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,051 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 38.2% and a BS Rank of 36% (16,148 of 25,185 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 64.10% of the article peer group.
While the Trump administration and Congress have been slow to respond to US consumers’ fears about data center development and the responsible deployment of artificial intelligence products, in large part because the industry accounts for much of the economy’s recent growth , individual states have gone ahead to create their own policies — and New York is leading the way.
Earlier this month, Gov.
Kathy Hochul (D) issued an executive order that created the nation’s first moratorium on data centers, and the Empire State’s legislature unanimously passed a first-of-its-kind bill in June that establishes safeguard features on AI chatbots for minors.
The moratorium puts a one-year pause on new data center developments in order to establish strong standards for infrastructure build-out, as well as regulatory frameworks that protect communities, consumers, and the environment.
The goal of the moratorium, according to Hochul, is to ensure that localities reap rewards from the construction and operation of data centers instead of being burdened by them.
To that end, New York will provide guidance on how communities can negotiate benefits for large-scale data center deals, including support for local infrastructure improvements, child care investments, and workforce development programs.
During the one-year pause, environmental issues like water quality and consumption, as well as the impact on energy demand, will also be studied and assessed.
“It’s not about being the first state, it’s about being the first to get it right,” said Hochul.
“Over the course of this year [we’ll] help those localities negotiate the right way, keep track of how much water is being consumed and also insist that these companies contribute to the larger grid, because this is a huge tax on our grid.”
The governor’s executive order reflects consumers’ mounting anti-data-center sentiment.
According to a recent Gallup poll, 71 percent of Americans oppose constructing data centers for AI in their area.
Their main worries include effects on resources and quality of life, as well as increased utility and taxpayer costs.
An anti-data center agenda has become popular for candidates who are on the ballot for this year’s midterms.
In Texas, Gov.
Greg Abbott (R) called for blocking new data center development in rural East Texas, which is an about-face in his stance on AI development in less than a year.
And congressional candidates like Democrat Jamie Ager, who is running for a House seat in North Carolina, voiced support for a “short-term moratorium on new data centers.”
But consumers are not only concerned about data centers.
They are increasingly skeptical of Big Tech in general and are aware of the harmful effects their products are having on individuals and society — especially on children.
New York is at the forefront of addressing some of these other issues as well.
Last month, the state legislature unanimously passed the “Kids Chatbot Safety Act,” which bans chatbot operators, like Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, from using “features which are considered unsafe for minors.”
More specifically, it prohibits chatbots from simulating companionship or an interpersonal relationship with users under 18, bans the engagement of sexually explicit interactions, and prohibits chatbots from producing outputs that endorse or promote suicidal ideation and self-harm.
The bill follows a wave of laws and lawsuits across the country aimed at platform accountability, all of which have signaled a shift of responsibility away from users of platforms, such as students, educators, and parents, to the designers and operators of them.
“Much like a car company is in the best position to make their car safer as opposed to the person driving, the platforms designing these products are in the best position to mitigate risks,” noted Suzanne Bernstein, counsel at Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).
Once this law is fully implemented, chatbot operators will no longer be allowed to offer their products to New York residents unless they can determine the user is not a minor; operators would incur a $25,000 fine per violation.
“This bill sets clear guardrails which should be for any sector or use case,” said state Sen.
Kristen Gonzalez (D), who sponsored the bill.
“These companies have the technological ability to implement safeguards on their products, but it’s been a great business model for chatbots to create intimate relationships with minors because they want to create customers for life.”
Early research on AI chatbots suggests that so-called dark patterns — deceptive and manipulative product design choices — exist in order to maximize engagement and undermine user autonomy and well-being.
For example, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) found that user autonomy is often compromised by a platform’s engagement-maximizing tactics, like prolonging conversations and the use of game-like features.
AI chatbots may use emotional-sounding language, playacting, and simulated vulnerability to keep minors interacting with the bot.
“Companies specifically design their chatbots and algorithms to target children, which creates a power dynamic.
This bill is the first step to taking some of that power back,” said Assemblymember Alex Bores (D), who co-sponsored the bill with Gonzalez.
Even as states pass legislation to hold the industry accountable, however, the Trump administration continues to push for policies that benefit Big Tech.
Following Hochul’s executive order, President Donald Trump immediately jumped on Truth Social to express his distaste.
“One of the biggest Driving Forces in the Future for Jobs, are Data Centers,” Trump wrote .
“They are big, strong, bold, and Money Machines for the State in which they are built.
… Both the Taxes and the Jobs amount to LIQUID GOLD!
… New York should change its Policy, IMMEDIATELY.”
The president has repeatedly insisted how “great” data centers are for the communities that host them.
Speaking at a White House rally last week, he said: “You have to convince your community how great these things are.
You can’t fight it, you have to go with it.
Your communities and your states are going to become rich, and make tremendous amounts of money.
And if you don’t take all that money, somebody else is.”
But New York’s one-year moratorium on data centers has other states watching, and this kind of political and grassroots pushback may be a harbinger of what’s to come for Big Tech.
While Congress Waits, New York Tightens the Reins on Data Centers and Chatbots originally appeared on WhoWhatWhy
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