Recently, our careless and tone-deaf governor, Tate Reeves, shamelessly announced that Amazon will be investing an additional $12 billion to build two new data centers—one in Clinton and another in Ridgeland. Reeves spoke as if the whole state of Mississippi should be grateful he is signing off on the billion-dollar community-killing machines. In an interview with the Washington Post, Reeves claimed that Mississippi is attracting data centers because of the speed at which companies are able to complete projects in the state. But what he doesn’t mention is that Mississippi is a likely target because many states in the country are starting to reject data centers—and for good reason.
We have all seen the recent reporting exposing how Elon Musk’s new xAI data centers in Southaven are terrorizing the community with devastating noise and air pollution. It is obvious to anyone who cares, which clearly Reeves does not, that in backyards across the country, data centers are devastating local ecosystems, driving up utility costs and creating deadly long-term health risks.
Beyond those very loud and obvious reasons that we as Mississippians should oppose the newly announced data centers, there lies a very humane and moral one as well: Data centers are both products and producers of war, and they are killing the people and planet. On the surface, all these new data centers popping up across Mississippi might just look like sources of new jobs and high-tech progress. But when you dig a little deeper, you see that the rapid expansion of these data centers requires raw materials that can only be obtained through violence, and that they fuel a technology that is increasingly used by the Pentagon to further its war crimes.
So, how exactly is the demand for and the sustaining of data centers in Mississippi contributing to more war across the globe? Well, for starters, data centers need natural resources to operate. Minerals like copper and aluminum are needed for power infrastructure and cooling. Silicon, gallium, lithium and cobalt are needed for processors, batteries and semiconductors. Fossil fuels provide almost 60% of the power for data centers, especially for “emergency generators.” AI data centers run almost 24/7, and so the “emergency” generators are pretty consistently operating. All of these materials are a driving factor behind U.S. regime change efforts in Iran, Venezuela and other resource-rich regions. The extraction of these materials requires the destabilization of the sovereign regions in which they are found and is often obtained through inhumane mining practices, including the use of child labor, and often results in tragic deaths.
Then there is the question of moral and ethical use of generative AI. The expansion of data centers comes at a time when AI and LLMs (large-language models) are increasingly being utilized by the Pentagon for both domestic militarism and imperialism. In other words, they are being used to oppress and suppress the rights of people here at home, as well as to commit war crimes abroad. The Pentagon has recently signed a $10 billion 10-year contract with Palantir, and entered into a massive deal with OpenAI as well. The employment of AI in military operations has already resulted in war crimes. For instance, Anthropic’s Claude was used in the bombing of the Iranian girls’ elementary school in Minab, which killed nearly 200 students and teachers. Do Mississippians want to be the workforce behind a killing machine capable of murdering young girls?
Look, it is easy to understand why the announcement of a new $12 billion industry in Mississippi can seem like good news. This is one of the poorest states in the country, with many communities facing a severe lack of job opportunities. And the job opportunities that do exist come with very low-paying wages, which make it nearly impossible to make ends meet. We do need new jobs in this state, but should those jobs come at the expense of people and the future of our planet? Tate Reeves could work on bringing jobs to Mississippi that design, install and maintain renewable energy systems to replace fossil fuel reliance. He could sign contracts with companies that manage and protect our beautiful natural ecosystems, habitats and biodiversity here in our state, including forestry and land management. We need jobs that sustain our way of life and our southern charm and hospitality, instead of terrorizing our communities while killing people abroad.
Data centers are toxic installations in people’s backyards throughout the country, and they keep our communities tied to the war economy. In defense of the planet, of our communities and of communities around the world, it is imperative that communities unite to stop data center projects —especially here in Mississippi, where we have so much beauty and love to protect. Mississippi’s future is not AI, and we should be investing in what makes us great: the people and the land. Mississippians deserve better. It is a shame that our very own governor doesn’t think so.
This MFP Voices opinion essay reflects the personal opinion of its author(s). The column does not necessarily represent the views of the Mississippi Free Press, its staff or board members. To submit an opinion for the MFP Voices section, send up to 1,200 words and sources fact-checking the included information to voices@mississippifreepress.org. We welcome a wide variety of viewpoints.
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