Sun says some AI executives talk about ‘bribing’ towns to accept data centres

What was said

"tell us how to bribe them better. Tell us what we can do. And so when I talk to them about the buildup, I'm not hearing any sort of personal moral reckoning with slowing AI down. I'm hearing how do I make the bribes bigger? How big do they need to be?"

Sun says that in conversations about speeding up data-centre construction, some executives and operators have framed community-benefit negotiations in blunt terms, including using the word “bribe”. She presents this as evidence that parts of the industry are focused on overcoming local resistance through financial inducements rather than addressing deeper concerns about AI’s value and risks.