California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed seven bills Monday to regulate the data center industry, imposing new requirements on electricity costs, water use, and local oversight.
The legislation targets the expanding data center sector, which has drawn scrutiny over its resource consumption and environmental impact. The bills establish stricter controls on power consumption and water usage, addressing concerns about strain on California's energy grid and water supplies during peak demand periods.
Local governments gain enhanced authority to oversee data center development and operations within their jurisdictions. The measures also impose new accountability standards for electricity costs, requiring greater transparency in how facilities manage and report energy expenditures.
The action reflects growing pressure on California's infrastructure as artificial intelligence and cloud computing demand accelerates. State officials have faced mounting questions about whether existing regulations adequately protect resources while accommodating rapid industry growth. These bills represent one of the most comprehensive efforts to date to balance technological expansion with environmental and community protection.
British Columbia filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in California, claiming the company could have used ChatGPT logs to alert police and prevent a mass shooting in the province earlier this year.
Samsung C&T committed up to $100 million to help Kairos Power build its first 50-megawatt nuclear facility, which will supply power to Google's data centers.
Democratic Rep. Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia is calling for a federal strategy to manage AI data center expansion, arguing that state-by-state approaches leave communities shouldering infrastructure costs without coordination.