A pro-data-center party in Washington met a local backlash

The case for building

The party was organized by tech journalist Jonas Du and Young Voices, a Washington nonprofit staffing company. Finn Hartnett, who reported on the event for Washingtonian, described Pubkey as a “tech-bro watering hole.”

According to Hartnett, an uninvited guest began shouting soon after the event started. Other attendees drowned him out with boos and chants of “USA, USA,” and security removed him. At least two more interruptions followed.

Du told Hartnett the organizers were not entirely surprised. He said he had little respect for people who try to make their point by interrupting others, especially when they infringe on other people’s freedom of speech.

In a video posted on X, libertarian commentator Rim Ibrahim asked partygoers why they supported data centers. One said she loved the internet; another cited sports streams and the chance to get upset about her teams. Other guests echoed familiar arguments from politicians and tech executives: data centers will help the US “win the AI race,” and the country is on the verge of one of the greatest scientific and technological revolutions.

One attendee told Ibrahim that data centers bring capital and jobs to rural areas and give those communities a chance to thrive. The article argues that growing evidence points the other way: AI-focused data centers are not delivering those benefits or the promised development.

The everyday services guests named also do not make a strong case for the recent buildout. The internet and sports streaming existed long before AI chatbots and the infrastructure built to run them.

Growth has a local cost

Opposition to data centers is growing across political lines. Large facilities can bring noise, higher electricity prices, pollution and pressure on water supplies in drought-prone areas. Residents around the country are turning up at municipal council meetings to ask officials to oppose new projects.

Du described the party to Axios as a response to “the bipartisan psychosis around data centers.” He also acknowledged that none of the guests wanted construction to harm local residents, economically or physically. In the end, he said, everyone wants to support economic growth.

I think that is the tension the party could not resolve. Saying everyone wants growth does not explain who bears the costs, or why residents should accept them in exchange for benefits that remain contested. The protests were easy to dismiss as interruptions; the bills and local effects they pointed to are harder to shout down.

The industry’s leaders, meanwhile, have opposed even the idea of supporting local initiatives, while using large advertising campaigns to improve the public image of data centers. What I’d want to know is whether the promised jobs and investment can be measured against the costs communities are already describing. Until that case is made, “USA, USA” sounds less like an answer than a substitute for one.