New York State just hit pause on the AI data center boom

As AI use ratchets up, demand for data center capacity is higher than it’s ever been. But New York State is telling the industry: Not so fast. New York Governor Kathy Hochul this week signed an Executive Order described as the “nation’s first moratorium” on new hyperscale data centers, massive factories that typically comprise thousands of servers devouring tens or hundreds of megawatts of power.