Supercomputer Backlash Back in the Spotlight

Garry Tan kicks up a fresh round of data center discourse, Anthropic closes $30B raise, Thrive puts $100M into Shopify

May 15, 2026

Happy Friday.

We’re live on YouTube and 𝕏.

The current thing in tech and business is the March AOC-Sanders data center moratorium bill, which went viral again thanks to a post by Garry Tan.

No guests on the show today.

Run of Show

Garry Tan kicked up a new round of discourse on the AOC-Sanders data center moratorium bill that they introduced in March. Garry’s post:

News also came out that Hill County, Texas, voted to issue a moratorium on data center construction for one year, and that the City of Cleveland rejected a data center permit application yesterday.

A viral post by 𝕏 user SHL0MS feels weirdly apt today. On Tuesday, he posted that he had generated an image in the style of a Monet painting using AI. “Please describe, in as much detail as possible, what makes this inferior to a real Monet painting,” he wrote above the image he generated. One person responded: “I’m disappointed I have to even point it out. There is no cohesion to the depth and color choices. The reflection of the tree bleeds into the lilypads with no regard for spatial depth or contrast. The background lilypad-algae amalgam is egregiously vague, like most AI art.”

The thing is that SHL0MS was trolling. The image he posted was actually a Monet painting, not something generated by AI.

People do have genuine, valid concerns about data centers in their backyards, but the fact that at least some of the backlash appears to be driven by simple reactionary politics is hard to ignore.

Clip Spotlight: Saagar Enjeti on the coming backlash to AI

Breaking Points’ Saagar Enjeti says AI companies are “fighting against a very, very big force” in the US.

“There’s this rising populist tide against the data center movement. And against Abundance-style assurances from politicians and companies.”

“Something is happening. The tide has not only turned, but coming.”

“People just feel like this is out of their control. About AI especially. They’re like, ‘I want impact. I want a say.’”

“There’s an overwhelming animus, and people are angry. It’s about a lack of control. ‘You’re coming to take my job, you’re increasing my electricity prices, you’re changing my nation. And I have to have a say as a citizen.’”

“It’s no longer just about electricity, it’s about the whole picture.”

From his appearance on the show in April.