On Tech Oligarchs and Luddites: The March on AI Data Centers in Washington, DC

On April 21st, I participated in Third Act’s march “We the People - Not Data Centers” to speak outside Microsoft’s Washington, DC office on the health harms and severe environmental impacts from AI/crypto data centers and related energy operations in Pennsylvania. The group Third Act led the group on a tour of the tech oligarchy which included a stroll down the streets of the capitol from the offices of Apple to OpenAI to Microsoft, and more. (Third Act is a nationwide organization building a powerful elder-led movement for climate action and democracy protection.) 

The same week, DC was hosting the Data Center World Convention, an event for the data center industry to promote their latest tech and infrastructure, and where we held the final rally after our march, bullhorns aimed at the doors to the Washington Convention Center.

Throughout the day, we experienced a wide range of reactions to our chants, signs, and speeches. Data center convention-goers were easy to identify with their bright purple lanyards; the majority of our event took place during lunchtime so they were out and about. We had cheers and high fives from residents of DC, and were met with jeers, eyerolls, and laughter from the convention attendees. Some looked very uncomfortable, and a couple convention folks came over to talk to us and try to understand our opposition to AI data centers. “We have to ‘beat China,” “You’ll get left behind,” and “AI is here and we have to accept it” were a few of the things we heard. 

Not only are those statements about the alleged “AI Revolution” (false) corporate talking points, but they are deeply out of touch with what communities across the world are concerned about. This is a familiar story, one that is most poignantly narrated by the Luddites. 

Before it was used as an insult against someone afraid or confused by modern technology, the word Luddite described a group of workers in 1800s England named after a fictional character called Ned Ludd, a folk hero who lived in Sherwood Forest and was the imagined leader of their industrial protest. The Luddites were mostly made up of weavers, knitters, and croppers (clothing workers) who experienced severe economic inequality and unemployment because of new textile technology. In 1799 and 1800 the British parliament passed the Combination Acts, which banned trade unions. Due to the Napoleonic Wars, conflict with the US, and other economic stressors, food prices soared and thousands of Luddites suffered from hunger. 

On March 11, 1811, British troops broke up a crowd of protesters in Nottingham who were demanding more work and better wages. Angered, the workers smashed textile machines at a nearby mill that night. This form of protest gained momentum and in 1811, close to 1,000 frame machines (used for making stockings and other garments) were smashed, leading the British government to make machine smashing punishable by death.

Luddites are often described as hating machines and technology, but many were skilled machinery operators and were protesting the exploitation of workers by factory owners and industrial leaders. In the short term, the actions of the Luddites earned better wages and improved working conditions for their communities, and they became folk heroes with poems written about their efforts such as Song for the Luddites by Lord Byron. If a tech bro calls you a Luddite, take it as a compliment. 

However, they were ultimately beaten back by government-sponsored violence after over 2000 soldiers were dispatched to guard mills across the region, with several Luddites and bystanders shot or sent to the gallows. In 1812, the Nottingham town clerk wrote to his home office in London, "this System must be kept down by Force before we can expect the restoration of Public Tranquility." The movement was fully broken up by 1816, after which politicians and industry painted the protestors as simply, "hating progress" and "fearing automation." The wins and progress gained by the Luddites were forgotten by future generations as history was retold. 

This 19th century inequity is echoed today in the 21st century, with the wealthiest 0.001% controlling three times more wealth than half of humanity combined, with tech billionaires dominating the richest of the rich.

As I stood in front of the Microsoft building, the company currently behind the deal to re-open the Three Mile Island nuclear energy facility and is asking for 73 million gallons of water a day to do so, I asked the crowd, "When has it ever been a good idea to trust a billionaire?"

We cannot allow the wealthy to erase us and to overwrite us.

The industries that stand to profit from this harmful buildout are trying to write our history and our future.  We must not swallow their false narrative about AI and crypto data centers. We don't need them; instead, we need to build community power and tell our own story. 

So what can people do? We can get involved with local opposition to data centers, push back when folks assume we are powerless, contact our municipal leaders to share our concerns, and learn how to get started at psrpa.org/datacenter.