The Backlash Begins

The Signal · 2026-07-13

The AI boom is running into people who don't want it in their backyard. Communities and politicians are pushing back on data centers over power draw, water use, and land. This is the buildout's first real resistance — and it's only starting.

Also today: Hugging Face's CEO says enterprises are ditching rented, closed AI for owned open-source models. The shift signals a hunt for cost control, customization, and sovereignty over convenience.

xAI and Cursor jointly released Grok 4.5, built to slot into the coding environment. It's a fast bid to challenge Claude and GPT in developer workflows.

That's today's Signal. Thanks for watching.