As Meta spends billions on artificial intelligence data centers and its CEO prepares to testify in a landmark social media trial, the company is earning a pretty penny. As tech giants invest heavily in the physical infrastructure of AI, data centers are increasingly facing political scrutiny over their strain on energy bills and the environment. Georgia is leading a legislative effort to ban building new data centers until March – with the hope that government officials have time to better regulate them. Even Donald Trump is worried about data centers’ effects on an already expensive electricity market. Meta and other tech companies are facing allegations that social media companies made their products intentionally addictive and harmful to young people.