AI optimism meets data center backlash as protesters disrupt Seattle AI Week kickoff

A protester interrupts a panel on AI and economic growth at Seattle AI Week at AI House on Monday, as a security guard approaches from across the room, and moderator Randa Minkarah of WTIA tries to regain control of the session. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) The Washington Technology Industry Association kicked off the third annual Seattle AI Week on Monday with a reminder that AI affects everyone, from engineers and artists to “someone who learned about ChatGPT today,” as WTIA’s Nick Ellingson put it. “All of us should be a part of that conversation,” he added. A few people in the audience took that statement literally. Members of Troublemakers , a Seattle climate activism group, interrupted the week’s opening panel on AI and economic growth several times before they were led out by security. Outside on Elliott Bay, others floated in kayaks with a banner: “Power for People, Not for Tech.” “These are not your constituents — we are,” one protester told Beau Perschbacher , Gov. Bob Ferguson’s senior policy advisor, as he addressed the large crowd of tech and startup leaders at Seattle’s AI House . Perschbacher was on a panel with Joe Nguyen of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Mattie Zazueta of OpenAI, the event’s presenting sponsor. The group’s main message, according to members who spoke with GeekWire: the rush to build data centers and roll out AI is putting the state’s communities, jobs and environment at risk, and Washington should be investing in green jobs and clean energy instead. Protesters in kayaks on Elliott Bay near the Seattle AI Week kickoff event on Monday. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) The protest comes amid a broader backlash against data centers in Washington state and across the country. The Seattle City Council voted unanimously in June to pause new large data centers in the city for a year, and Washington AI Resistance organized at least 19 protests around the state this month calling for a statewide moratorium. The event also came the same day Microsoft offered voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, roughly a quarter of its workforce, as it spends tens of billions of dollars on data centers and AI infrastructure. The backlash contrasts with a push from the business and tech community for Washington state and the Seattle region to do more to stay competitive in the AI era. “Washington helped build the technology economy of the last generation. We have an extraordinary opportunity to lead the AI economy of the …