Hochul's business-friendly data center plan

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Key points

• That they may need radiation, remarked Lynn Brooks, a claims processor for Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York and union steward.
• What they're saying: In an interview with Axios, Hochul remarked the "thoughtful" approach for Democrats is to avoid demonizing business and just focus on protecting their constituents.
• On Wednesday, Hochul held a roundtable with women whose jobs are being directly impacted by AI as part of a workforce development to ready New Yorkers.
• Zoom in: New York is the epicenter of the affordability debate – an election matter that is crashing into AI angst.
• Hochul this week additionally blasted the Senate GOP campaign arm's pressure on AI businesses to fix the optics of data centers.

"I want Democrats to win and if this helps them, embrace it, right?" she remarked.

"I don't think it's government's role, certainly not the United States Senate's role, to be telling companies how to market their products, " she remarked at a press conference.

Hochul is trying to thread the needle of a business-friendly politician who additionally cares concerning workers, lowering living costs and the environment.

Hochul is calling for a relatively short moratorium on data center construction – only one year – while other progressive Democrats want to create the construction contingent on achieving AI safety and other much loftier goals.

Progressives in Hochul's own state additionally backing a moratorium that is longer than one year. Hochul has not remarked whether she would back that.

"You need human interaction in some things. You may obtain a phone call that someone just secured the worst news of their life and they're crying and I'm trying to support them understand this cancer diagnosis. That they may need radiation, " remarked Lynn Brooks, a claims processor for Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York and union steward.

"AI is a tool. I see the need for it. But I don't want it to replace the family, " Brooks continued, referring to her team.

Meanwhile, the bottom line: Hochul will forever be able to boast that she was the first governor in the nation to sign a data center moratorium, but there is still a meaningful distance between her and progressives that allows her to maintain her business relationships.

Taken together, the developments around hochul' s business point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.