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The Most Revolutionary Act

Million man demonstrations in Yemen

The Cradle

Today, massive million-man demonstrations were held in Yemen’s Sanaa against the Saudi-imposed blockade, in what is being viewed as a popular public referendum endorsing options to break the blockade by force.

Via https://t.me/thecradlemedia/64416

Pakistan ‘fears’ being dragged into new Yemen–Saudi war

(Photo credit: AFP)

The Cradle

JUL 17, 2026

Last year’s defense pact between Islamabad and the kingdom declares that an ‘attack against one is an attack against both’

Pakistan is concerned that the Ansarallah resistance movement and the Yemeni army’s recent retaliatory strike on Saudi Arabia could “draw” it into the conflict – particularly given its new defense agreement with the Gulf monarchy, Reuters cited sources as saying on 16 July.

The recent attack has “frustrated” Islamabad and may “complicate” its continued role as a mediator between the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to the report.

“The attacks this week … pushed Islamabad’s frustration with Iran to a new level [because] they raised the prospect of a new [Saudi–Ansarallah] conflict,” sources said.

The report adds that Pakistan was frustrated with Tehran earlier in the war due to its retaliatory strikes on US sites in Saudi Arabia – which opened up facilities to Washington for attacks on Iran and, according to reports, carried out its own direct strikes against the Islamic Republic.

“Our top civil and military leaders have conveyed to Iran at the highest level that the attacks on Saudi ​Arabia are attacks on Pakistan. It is our red line,” a Pakistani official told Reuters.

Pakistani security analyst Muhammad Amir Rana told the outlet that Islamabad was not “anticipating that the tensions will rise so suddenly.”

According to the anonymous sources cited in the report, there is frustration and growing concern in Islamabad that involvement by the Ansarallah-led Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) “may be more likely to draw Pakistan into the conflict” than Iran’s previous strikes on the kingdom.

The sources explained that Pakistani troops are stationed near Saudi Arabia’s border with Yemen and increase the risk of their exposure to harm.

Islamabad is also concerned about Red Sea shipping and the YAF’s ability to shut the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Iran struck US sites in Saudi Arabia multiple times throughout the war. Tehran, however, denied a number of particular attacks on the kingdom and referred to them as Israeli “false flags.”

Reports at the time also indicate that Mossad agents planned bombings in Gulf states with the aim of implicating Tehran and further inflaming tensions.

But a recent Saudi airstrike on Sanaa International Airport, the first in years, prompted a serious Yemeni retaliation.

The YAF targeted Saudi Arabia’s Abha Airport with missiles and drones. These were also the first direct Yemeni strikes against Saudi territory since 2021.

The kingdom waged war against Yemen in 2015 at the head of an Arab coalition, after Ansarallah seized the capital and ousted the Saudi-backed president from Sanaa.

A 2023 Saudi–Yemeni peace process nearly resulted in an agreement between the two sides.

The peace talks stalled but prevented a major escalation from erupting. Yet the kingdom for years continued its illegal and deadly blockade on Yemeni ports and airports.

Ansarallah had already begun mobilizing to expel Saudi forces from Yemen when the kingdom bombed Sanaa airport on 13 July.

The movement and the YAF are now vowing to respond harshly to any more Saudi attacks. “We will spare no effort in confronting Saudi Arabia with everything we possess,” Ansarallah’s leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said this week.

This would potentially involve more direct Yemeni strikes on Saudi territory and energy infrastructure, as was the case in 2021 and 2022.

Pakistan would be required to confront any such attack as part of their defense pact with the kingdom reached in September 2025.

That pact declares that “any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both.”

[…]

Via https://thecradle.co/articles/pakistan-fears-being-dragged-into-new-yemen-saudi-war-report

How Tehran is Running the Clock

Pepe Escobar

Tehran isn’t rushing to negotiate—it’s running down Washington’s clock

Let’s start with four key variables at work in this increasingly dangerous crossroads.

One. The Majlis – the Iranian Parliament – met on Tuesday night, at the start of the new Mojtaba era, which started last Friday after the final burial rites of former, assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in Mashhad. The 290 members unanimously passed two resolutions.

The first one demands the government – under President Pezeshkian – “accelerate nuclear capabilities”. That may be interpreted either as driving up uranium enrichment, or something way more groundbreaking.

The second resolution rejects any (italics mine) compromise with the US on previously agreed terms. Translation: even if there would be a renewed memorandum of understanding (MoU), de facto blown up by the President of the United States straight out of the NATO summit in Ankara, the terms would be much harsher for the US.
Two. The Iran-Pakistan-Qatar channel.

Earlier this week Islamabad and Doha have resumed intense consultations – one might even brand them as frantic – trying to reopen direct talks with Tehran this coming Sunday.

That’s a Sisyphean task, because it would have to take place in sharp contrast with heavy American bombing of Iranian targets – including civilian infrastructure – and the motto echoed by millions in the streets of Iran last week: “Revenge”.
The diplomacy though is real. Yet it has been demoted by the mediators from “path to settlement” to “prevention of catastrophe.”

Three. The Trump-Munir backchannel

Mediators at the sorry remnants of the negotiating table confirm that Trump continues to place direct calls to Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir, pressing him to find an off-ramp that avoids personal humiliation.

That completely voids trademark vociferations by POTUS – always dominating the news cycle – that Iran is begging to do a deal. Reality is exactly the opposite. Munir, incidentally, is the Last Chance Saloon for Trump when it comes to an off-ramp.
Four. The Iranian military response to US bombing.
That includes, crucially, precision cluster munitions devastating US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

The overwhelming majority of the real damage is not being reported publicly. From Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar to the Command and Control Center in Jordan; to erased Patriot missile systems in Kuwait to Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE; from wiping out MQ-9 drone hangars and HIMARS launchers and ammo depots to obliterated refueling platforms in Oman’s Duqm port.

That one was a banger: Duqm is on Arabian Sea coast, outside of the Strait of Hormuz. That’s where American ships dock without entering the Persian Gulf, refuel, and receive repair and supply services: a key node of the operational rear of the US fleet deployed in the northern Indian Ocean.

[…]

Via https://t.me/healthimpact/3687

Terrified Tech Execs Traveling With Armed Bodyguards as AI Backlash andBubble Grow

by Brian Shilhavy
Health Impact News

Today was another down day in Tech stocks, which brought out the AI Bubble doomsday scenarios that are more frequently being discussed in the Corporate Financial news networks.

Barbara Kollmeyer, writing for Market Watch, covered an opinion piece written by analyst Ed Zitron who stated that the Lehman Bros. moment of the AI bubble is coming, which will affect the entire stock market.

The Lehman Bros. moment of the AI bubble is coming, says this critic warning of fallout for tech stocks and the entire market

Ed Zitron sees a downfall driven by loss-making subscriptions and an insatiable need for cash

Excerpts:

Blowout results from chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, seem to be doing little for sentiment on Thursday.

Worries about whether spending on artificial intelligence will pay off have been a downer for some stocks lately. Our call of the day from Ed Zitron, author of “The Hater’s Guide to the AI Bubble,” won’t help much.

In a 15,000-word Substack post on Wednesday, Zitron, the founder of a technology-focused public-relations firm, argues that the question is not if, but when, OpenAI will collapse.

Its failure would be a watershed moment — the Lehman Brothers of the AI bubble, and an event that would define the end of one epoch, the start of another, and that would shake the afflicted out of that psychosis,” he writes.

A dogged AI critic, Zitron sees a “cultlike” derangement around what he sees as an AI bubble kept alive by OpenAI’s existence.

Back in early 2023, when Zitron said he started researching large language models, he called generative AI “the latest gold rush in technology.” He predicted two years ago that OpenAI’s Sora video generator was not viable — and it was canned this March.

His Substack post attacks OpenAI’s business model and its plan to “burn over $852 billion by the end of 2030,” along with the $50 billion or more in compute spending this year. The latter, he estimates, is “more than 50% of all global compute spend.”

As OpenAI and Anthropic raised $300 billion in the past few years, their infrastructure costs have been funded largely by hyperscalers, who have been creating an illusion that more companies will eat up compute like OpenAI, he wrote.

Oracle, he notes, is in particular danger from a prospective OpenAI collapse, as it could get stuck with “billions of wasted capex, and endless debt and leases.”

Zitron predicts that OpenAI’s collapse will only come after “AI data center debt and venture capital funding has been almost entirely exhausted,” as OpenAI has vast money needs.

Based on my own reporting on its audited financials from 2024 and 2025, OpenAI will need to raise funding at least three more times in the next decade,” he says.

Its downfall will be driven by loss-making subscriptions, weak advertising revenue and massive costs for customers, Zitron says. That will curb compute demand, end free ChatGPT and make investors wary of any AI startup, not to mention seizing up related data-center debt.

Zitron doesn’t think Anthropic is safe, either, as it’s burning billions on training models, producing way too many Claude iterations and lacking focus.

An OpenAI collapse will lead to a “violent, punishing effect on the entire stock market,” he says.

The scale, he says, scares him “to the point I’m almost hoping I’m wrong.”

Full article.

The Wall Street Journal today published an “Exclusive” article titled The AI Backlash Has Tech Executives Fearing for Their Liveswhich was picked up by many other media sources as well.

Since that is behind a paywall, here is an article discussing this published on Futurism.

Terrified Tech Execs Are Traveling With Armed Bodyguards as AI Backlash Grows

Excerpts:

Public backlash to AI is intensifying — and transforming into real-world attempts at physical violence. Industry leaders are fearing for their lives.

Leading AI companies and their top executives are beefing up security, the Wall Street Journal reports, as escalating anti-AI industry sentiment is culminating in threats and attempts of violence against the people and ventures building leading AI models. Some executives are even traveling with armed guards, while others have taken to keeping a lower public profile.

Tech CEOs, a few years ago, definitely did not have security,” Dakota Dominguez, an executive at the Silicon Valley-based security firm JPT Security, told the WSJ.

A lot of tech companies now are incorporating that into their budgets.”

Earlier this year, the AI industry was shaken when a 20-year-old anti-AI activist named Daniel Moreno-Gama, armed with a gun and a Molotov cocktail, unsuccessfully tried to firebomb the home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. No one was injured, but the high-profile incident followed a string of violent threats and at least one OpenAI lockdown.

OpenAI isn’t alone. Per the WSJ, around the time that Altman’s home was targeted, OpenAI rival Anthropic faced a close call when a man snuck into its headquarters behind an employee carrying an envelope with an executive’s name on it. The man reportedly then told a guard that the executive was “going to be killed.” The man was stopped before anyone got hurt.

All in all, it’s easy to see why tech leaders are budgeting for beefed up security.

Theodora Scarato, the Director of Wireless and EMF Program, was interviewed on Redacted about the health hazards these huge mega Data Centers are causing the the American public.

 

[…]

Via https://healthimpactnews.com/2026/terrified-tech-execs-are-traveling-with-armed-bodyguards-as-ai-backlash-and-ai-bubble-grows/

China’s “eyes” and Iran’s “fist”: Iran dumped GPS, switched to Beidou, and won the war

Inside China Business | July 15, 2026

Intelligence analysts note dramatic, and sudden, advances in Iranian missile and drone capabilities.

During last year’s war on Iran, IDF and American forces successfully “spoofed” Iranian drones and missiles, which relied on GPS navigation systems.

But after that conflict, Iran switched to Beidou, a Chinese satnav system that cannot be jammed by Western militaries.

Beidou is also more accurate than GPS in most of the world, including in the Persian Gulf region.

Iranian drones and missiles are now threading through air defenses, and taking down critical, high-value targets across the Gulf States, who also rely on GPS.

Ironically, China’s motivation to build the Beidou system began over thirty years ago, when the Pentagon switched off GPS to a Chinese container ship bound for Iran.

By 2020, Beidou leapt past GPS in coverage and accuracy in most of the world. 

Resources and links:

“Breathing Fire” After Yinhe Embarrassment, China’s Pledge To Counter U.S. GPS Reaches Key Milestone https://www.eurasiantimes.com/gps-an-…

The GPS Blackout That Changed Everything for China https://www.bastillepost.com/global/a…

Iran turns to China’s BeiDou satellites to outfox Israeli anti-drone electronic warfare defences https://www.intellinews.com/iran-turn…

Could Iran be using China’s highly accurate BeiDou navigation system? https://www.aljazeera.com/features/20…

China’s Push for Satellite Cooperation in the Middle East https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/p…

In 165 countries, China’s Beidou eclipses American GPS https://asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/cen…

伊朗副部长:正在探索从GPS切换到中国北斗系统 https://m.guancha.cn/internation/2025…

Gulf Countries Confront Questions About Relying on U.S. for Protection https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/wo…

Iran reportedly destroys $300M US missile defence radar in Jordan https://www.trtworld.com/article/6dda…

How Iran Devastated an American Naval Base—and Caused a U.S. Recalculation https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east…

Hegseth launches ‘High-T Department,’ unveils testosterone replacement therapy for US troops

Pete Hegseth Announces 'High-T Department Of War' To Screen Troops ...

The Cradle

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has announced that military personnel aged 30 and above will be screened for testosterone deficiency during their annual health evaluations.

In a video shared on X under the caption “High-T Department,” Hegseth said he was launching the screening initiative to ensure troops have “the right testosterone levels to operate at your absolute best.”

Service members found to have low testosterone levels will be offered hormone replacement therapy on a voluntary basis.

Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said: “All Active Duty and Reserve Component personnel aged 30 and older will undergo mandatory screening for testosterone deficiency during their Periodic Health Assessment.”

Parnell added that personnel under the age of 30 would also have the option to request testing.

“We owe our warriors the absolute best medical care in the world, and this programme delivers on that obligation,” Hegseth said in Wednesday’s video.

“Taking care of your long-term health means ensuring you remain strong, resilient and capable – not just for your next deployment, but for the rest of your life, so you can thrive long after you take off the uniform,” he added.

Via https://t.me/thecradlemedia/64294

Iran warned Vance Kushner, Witkoff used peace talks as cover for insider trading

(Photo credit: Nathan Howard/POOL/AFP)

The Cradle

JUL 16, 2026

Officials calculated profits from insider trading on the war at $9 billion by June and formally demanded that half be allocated to Iran

Iranian negotiators sent a private warning to US Vice President JD Vance earlier this year, saying that US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were “abusing” their roles in the talks to profit from financial markets, Drop Site News reported on 16 July.

The Iranian negotiators sent the warnings to Vance through an intermediary during the late June talks in Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, telling him the pair cared more about profiting from insider knowledge of the negotiations than reaching a deal to end the war on Iran.

The negotiators also said that Kushner had been repeatedly leaking details of the talks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with one US official telling Axios that Witkoff and Kushner “talk almost every day to Netanyahu” and the head of Mossad.

The Vance outreach came after Tehran had already tried to alert the White House to the pair’s conduct, presenting evidence that “individuals close to [US] President [Donald] Trump” were abusing the war on Iran and diplomatic developments to manipulate financial markets, while warning of Witkoff’s “overall destructive role in the previous negotiation.”

Financial analysts have observed a pattern since the war began in late February of speculative bets and unusually large positions in war-linked markets – oil futures, energy stocks, and prediction markets – often preceded by Trump announcements timed just before Monday trading opens in the US, fueling public suspicion of insider trading.

Iran calculated the profits from these manipulations at around $9 billion by June and formally demanded in writing that half of it, $4.5 billion, be allocated to Tehran.

The official said the exchanged texts “will ultimately become part of the historical record.”

Financial disclosure forms released on 3 July revealed that President Trump’s income soared past $2.2 billion last year, largely built on cryptocurrency ventures that his own administration was regulating.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Trump made around $1 billion from crypto deals, including a UAE state-linked investment in World Liberty Financial and proceeds from his $TRUMP memecoin, which later crashed in value by 97 percent.

Trump and those close to him have also profited from massive, highly suspicious trading spikes in oil futures and stock indexes occurring just minutes before the president issued major market-moving announcements on social media about the US war on Iran.

Economists, lawmakers, and market analysts have raised alarms over insider trading, data leaks, and market manipulation coming from the White House.

Almost $1 billion in oil futures trades were executed in early May in the minutes before an Axios report revealed a US-Iran memorandum aimed at ending the war.

Market observers noted the White House’s wild swings between war and peace rhetoric appeared to be little more than a vehicle for insiders to profit through coordinated trading on Polymarket and traditional commodities exchanges

Meanwhile, the Financial Times (FT) reported that the president’s sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., were behind a $1.04-billion investment network funneling money into sectors championed by the White House, including drone companies pursuing Pentagon contracts.

The report also noted that Donald Trump Jr. serves as an advisor to Polymarket, where insider trading on US military action is reportedly rampant.

[…]

Via https://thecradle.co/articles/iran-warned-vance-that-kushner-witkoff-used-peace-talks-as-cover-for-insider-trading-report

Trump’s Iran deadlock sliding into forever war

Geopolitics Prime

Donald Trump started the conflict with a wish list, not an endgame: bomb Iran, expect Tehran to capitulate, reopen the Strait of Hormuz on American terms, and declare victory. Iran refused to follow the script – and Washington is now answering their strategic failure with a larger military gamble.

👉The original calculation has already fallen apart. Despite months of US-Israeli attacks and extensive damage to Iran’s conventional forces, Tehran has made no major concessions and has gained unprecedented leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. Even US critics describe the outcome as tactical gains followed by a strategic stalemate.

📌 The June 17 Memorandum of Understanding established a 60-day negotiating period, suspended the US blockade, reopened Hormuz, and granted Iran sanctions relief for oil exports. Nevertheless, Washington revoked that relief and resumed strikes before the window closed, accusing Tehran of violating the US interpretation of the deal.

🥴Negotiating with one hand and bombing with the other: apparently, that was the confidence-building phase.

🤥Trump’s response has been improvisation, not strategy. He floated American tolls in Hormuz, quickly abandoned the idea, threatened Iranian bridges and energy facilities, restored the oil blockade, and hinted at seizing Iranian territory. None of these proposals explains what victory looks like or how the conflict ends.

🔴 Now, The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump is leaning toward broader military operations, including intensified airstrikes; attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure, including Pickaxe Mountain; and even sending US troops to seize Kharg Island and other territory near the Strait of Hormuz.

🔴A ground operation would open an entirely new chapter. Kharg Island handles around 90% of Iran’s oil exports, but American troops stationed there would be exposed to missiles and drones launched from the mainland. Taking it may be possible; holding it without becoming trapped in a prolonged occupation is another matter.

🔴Iran also retains the means to retaliate against US bases across the region and disrupt shipping through Hormuz. The conflict has already spread to Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan, while repeated exchanges are pushing the region closer to full-scale war.

🔴The New York Times warns that this could become Trump’s Vietnam because the president’s adventure is turning into a forever-war trap: every American strike produces Iranian retaliation, every retaliation becomes justification for another US attack, and every failed ultimatum generates an even more ambitious military option.

🙅 Iran could make that trap even more costly. Unlike many previous US adversaries, Tehran can impose global economic pressure by disrupting maritime traffic through Hormuz while striking American bases and regional infrastructure without waiting for a US ground invasion.

Trump campaigned against endless Middle Eastern wars. He now appears ready to add ground troops, territorial seizures, and an open-ended bombing campaign to a conflict he began without a credible political resolution.

https://t.me/geopolitics_prime/72224

CDC Just Paid Pfizer $1.2 Billion to Purchase More COVID-19 Shots for 2026

Comments by Brian Shilhavy
Health Impact News

I have reported for years, and long before COVID came, that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is owned by the pharmaceutical companies who produce vaccines, specifically Pfizer.

The CDC is the largest purchaser of vaccines in the United States.

And as The Vaccine Reaction just reported, the CDC has just awarded Pfizer $1.2 billion to purchase COVID vaccines for this year and 2027.

The CDC works for and protects Big Pharma, not the American public, and I would not be surprised if some of that government money Pfizer gets goes toward advertising and improving their public image through the corporate media.

Pfizer is also the largest criminal organization in the world, based on settled criminal cases with the Department of Justice.

CDC Just Awarded Pfizer $1.2 Billion for COVID-19 Shots

by Amber Baker
The Vaccine Reaction

Excerpts:

U.S. federal procurement records published in June 2026 show that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded Pfizer more than $1.24 billion in contracts for adult and pediatric mRNA COVID-19 shots for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

The contracts, which were published on SAM.gov and contained more money allocated for pediatric COVID shots than adult COVID shots, were issued June 1, 2026 through the CDC Office of Acquisition Services. Those contracts include a pediatric contract totaling $735,720,598 and an adult contract totaling $505,272,000.

SAM.gov, which stands for System for Award Management, is the official U.S. government website managed by the General Services Administration (GSA) where entities register to bid on federal contracts, do business with the government, and search federal assistance listings.

The pediatric contract exceeds the amount of the adult contract by more than $230 million, despite children being at significantly lower risk for complications from SARS-CoV-2 infections than adults. The procurement records provide no explanation or justification for the awards or why demand for pediatric mRNA COVID shots would warrant a significantly larger contract than one for adults.

Full article.

Wayne Rohde, author of the book The Vaccine Court, reported yesterday that the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), the U.S. government “Vaccine Court”, just crossed a major milestone on July 1, 2026, for petitions filed for vaccine injuries and deaths.

He reports that the most dangerous killer vaccines today that are compensated by the NVICP (COVID vaccine injuries and deaths are filed in a different program) are still the annual flu shots, something that I reported for years long before the COVID shots came.

July NVICP report crosses a major milestone

HRSA releases July 1, 2026 on the 13th of July. Crosses a milestone for petitions filed.

Excerpts:

The July 2026 statistics from the NVICP were just released this week. The report shows the Program since Oct 1, 1988 has reached a major milestone regarding petitions filed.

30,000 petitions have been filed since the beginning of the Program. Something that most observers of the NVICP would not expect so quickly.

It was just a few years ago that the Program reached 24,000.

What is causing such a dramatic increase?

Simple. Flu vaccination. The #1 vaccine alleging injury, mainly severe should injury and GBS.

As of July 1, 2026, there have been 28,539 injury petitions filed and 1,461 death petitions filed. And an interesting note, the number of dismissals exceeds compensated cases 13,319 to 13,226.

Full article.

The Vaccine Cult is still alive and well in the U.S. And while many turned against the COVID-19 experimental shots that President Trump forced the FDA to approve at the end of 2020, the fact that the CDC is purchasing $1.2 billion more shots from Pfizer, shows that the cult is still functioning.

Nobody needs vaccines, and they have never been proven to eradicate any diseases. Vaccines do not cure diseases.

If you have the disease the vaccine is allegedly supposed to prevent, once you contract the disease, the vaccine in most cases would just make it worse.

Vaccines are the only pharmaceutical products that are NOT marketed to treat diseases, but to prevent them.

It is the same marketing strategy that the corrupt insurance industry uses to defraud the American public (paying money to protect you from what MIGHT happen in the future), but the consequences are more deadly and severe for those who believe in the Vaccine Cult.

[…]

Via https://healthimpactnews.com/2026/the-cdc-just-paid-pfizer-1-2-billion-to-purchase-more-covid-19-shots-for-2026/

New York imposes first statewide ban on large data centers

New York Governor Kathy Hochul participates in a ribbon cutting ceremony at the new JPMorgan Chase offices in New York, Oct. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

New York Governor Kathy Hochul participates in a ribbon cutting ceremony at the new JPMorgan Chase offices in New York, Oct. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

 

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE
July 14, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — New York blocked the construction of any new large data centers for up to a year on Tuesday while the state creates rules to protect the environment and the energy grid from power-hungry facilities that fuel artificial intelligence.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order imposing the country’s first statewide moratorium on hyperscale data centers, which house thousands of computer servers and require massive amounts of energy and a steady supply of water to keep cool.

The move puts the state in the center of a national debate over how to regulate the AI industry, as concerns over rising electric bills and environmental risks collide with the need to stimulate local economies and foster the U.S. tech sector.

“It’s my responsibility to take action and lead,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement.

In effect, the executive order pauses state permitting for new large data centers and direct state regulators to create standards that address environmental impacts, energy demand, water usage and other factors, the governor’s office said.

President Donald Trump has warned states not to slap regulations on the AI industry, echoing tech companies in arguing such moves hamper job growth and cede ground to China in a race to lead in the rapidly growing field.

Earlier this year, Maine seemed poised to establish a similar moratorium. But the measure was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills because it would have blocked a proposed data center in a town that has struggled after a mill closed.

Moratoriums have been proposed in at least a dozen states but have not gotten far, though some counties and municipalities have imposed their own temporary bans.

The decision in New York also carries political significance for Hochul’s reelection campaign and the state’s tight congressional races this fall, as Democrats move to address affordability concerns over high utility bills. In addition, the governor this year softened New York’s ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gases, citing rising energy costs for consumers.

Hochul’s Republican opponent in the governor’s race, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, opposes a statewide moratorium and says local governments should be allowed to strike deals with tech companies for data center projects that promise enough economic benefits.

The state Legislature this year approved its own moratorium bill, but Hochul’s office described the legislation as complex and said it needed additional work. Instead, the governor opted for an executive order that would take effect immediately.

New York, at this stage, has not been a destination for the biggest hyperscale data centers.

[…]

Via https://www.oann.com/tech/new-york-imposes-the-first-statewide-ban-on-large-data-centers/