This is great news! Monopolies like Amazon stand in the way of things people actually want, like: - decent wages and benefits - a lower cost of living - the right to join a union ....enforcing antitrust law is a big part of the solution!

Engadget@engadget.com · yesterday

NJ antitrust suit accuses Amazon of unlawfully wielding power over delivery contractors .

NEW: Trump’s coziness with AI oligarchs is a defining feature of his admin. But the AI companies reshaping our lives are also betting on the support of Democrats. We tracked close to 100 former Biden officials to their new jobs working in the AI industry:

Tracking the Revolving Door Between AI and Former Biden Officials | Revolving Door Project

This tracker was last updated on August 3, 2026.  The artificial intelligence industry is rapidly reshaping every facet of life, from the popularity of chatbots and disruption of the workplace to the ...

therevolvingdoorproject.org

Now that more folks realize how much the data center industry is screwing over regular people, their execs are scrambling to convince us that it's patriotic to give them our land, water, and tax dollars 🙄

charjaebug@jael.bsky.social · 5d ago

Scoop: You know all those AI generated pro-data center ads you’re seeing on TV, YouTube and Facebook? I was able to confirm for the first time it’s all a big national campaign by the data center lobby — one with a total black box of finances. Take a look inside “America Connects”

Amazon just released its Q2 earnings report, which showed a massive jump in earnings. Here’s what it actually means 🧵

Amazon's AI shopping assistants can easily tell when a product is falsely listed as "Made in the USA." But they don't do anything about it. When a monopoly like Amazon dominates the market, it's no longer motivated to treat its customers well. www.reuters.com/business/ret...

"The strength of rural America has never come from big industrial footprints." Amen to that!! 👏👏

Willie Nelson@willienelsonmusic.bsky.social · last wk.

To whom it may concern and to everyone else as well,

This report from @ilsr.bsky.social shows exactly why more people should be invested in these antitrust cases! They may seem wonky, but they truly are the key to giving power back to customers and indie businesses. ilsr.org/article/inde...

Amazon’s Monopoly is Growing and So Are Its Harms | Independent Business

Since the FTC and 17 states sued the tech giant, Amazon's monopoly and its abuse of sellers and shoppers are only getting worse.

ilsr.org

AI is making everyone's life more expensive, according to CNN. "Households must spend just over $375 more to purchase the same goods and services as they did this time last year due to AI’s inflationary impact,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, says. www.cnn.com/2026/07/28/e...

AI is making your life more expensive. Here’s how | CNN Business

AI is raising prices for Americans – and not just electricity bills.

cnn.com

Instead of actually addressing community concerns, the data center industry is spending millions to lobby against basic regulations to protect people from higher utility bills.

Politico@politico.com · last wk.

Data center boom sparks lobbying surge

Classic Amazon. The company has pocketed over $43 million in tax breaks from Florida over the years. Meanwhile, the company treats local workers like they're completely disposable. www.retaildive.com/news/amazon-...

Amazon to temporarily close Florida facility, lay off nearly 500

The Port St. Lucie distribution site will be renovated into a sortable fulfillment center, with operations set to cease Sept. 17.

retaildive.com

Median pay for an Amazon warehouse worker is ~$37K per year. And compared to the CEO, those workers pay a MUCH larger share of their income towards things like social security.

Judd Legum@juddlegum.bsky.social · last wk.

1. American taxpayers are spending $2 BILLION every year providing Medicaid benefits to hundreds of thousands of employees of Amazon and Walmart, a new analysis by Popular Information reveals.

"By comparing themselves to golf courses, tech giants obscure a vital distinction: they are draining the drinkable, treated water supply of the communities hosting them." 👏 ...the data center industry also VASTLY overestimates how much people like golf courses. www.forbes.com/sites/kensil...

The Digital Dust Bowl: The Brutal Physical Reality Of The AI Boom

AI runs on land, water, and power—not the cloud. Here is the brutal physical footprint of the data center boom, and the hidden cost communities are paying.

forbes.com

🚨 Take one minute to join this emergency action and support workers on Temporary Protected Status (TPS)! Amazon must protect the workers who make our company run! actionnetwork.org/letters/stan...

Stand with Us and Demand Amazon Protect TPS Workers!

Thousands of Amazon workers have spent years keeping one of the world's richest companies running. They have packed orders, loaded trucks, and worked through the pandemic, peak seasons, and grueling c...

actionnetwork.org

...so @wsj.com admits that data centers are massively unpopular with New Yorkers but thinks the governor should just ignore the will of the people?? www.wsj.com/client/auth?...

Opinion | New York’s Data Center Self-Sabotage

Gov. Kathy Hochul finds another way to hurt economic development in the state.

wsj.com

We already know that chronic understaffing makes Amazon warehouses more dangerous than they need to be. Now, the company is cracking down on managers for overriding nonsensical AI staffing decisions. What could go wrong? 🙃 www.businessinsider.com/amazon-manag...

'Please turn it off.' Amazon's push to automate warehouse staffing runs into human resistance.

Some Amazon warehouse managers are overriding automated staffing recommendations. The company wants stricter enforcement to improve decision-making.

businessinsider.com

Another reminder that ICE and DHS use Amazon Web Services to surveil and detain civilians. AWS just signed a $2.6 billion cloud-computing contract with the Dept. of Homeland Security. fedscoop.com/radio/the-ag...

AWS wins $2.6B DHS-wide Cumulus cloud project

And, IRS’s IT department has shrunk 42% since Trump took office

fedscoop.com

Amazon has a LONG history of greenwashing its business practices. We wouldn't be at all surprised if it's using creative accounting to disguise how much water its data centers actually use. www.theregister.com/on-prem/2026...

AWS sustainability claims don't hold water, lawsuit alleges

Ex-staffer accuses Amazon's Virginia datacenters of quietly guzzling H20 all year round, despite 'water positive' PR push

theregister.com

Northern VA has the world's highest concentration of data centers. Because of their energy needs, the utility company wants to build power poles bigger than the Statue of Liberty right in people's backyards. www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/n...

Loudoun families count win against Dominion power line, but fight isn't over

Families are celebrating a win against Dominion Energy and a controversial high-voltage transmission line project proposed to cut through yards and school property. But the fight isn’t over.

nbcwashington.com

NY Governor Kathy Hochul has just made New York the first state with a hyperscale data center moratorium. Hochul signed an executive order instituting a one-year ban on data centers over 50 megawatts rather than signing legislation passed by the legislature that also included a one-year ban.

Great breakdown explaining why data centers are a symptom of a much bigger problem: "the concentration of power and wealth in these tech companies is the greatest existential risk facing society today." 👏👏👏 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The fight against AI data centers is important – but it’s just a starting point | Bruce Schneier and Nathan E Sanders

AI companies want to capture the value created by entire industries. That concentration of wealth and power is society’s greatest risk

theguardian.com

There's just no easy way to cool a data center. Water-efficient projects need a lot of electricity to cool their servers, while energy-efficient data centers need more water. That's a lose-lose deal for locals. www.eenews.net/articles/ais...

AI’s no-win choice: Using huge amounts of water or energy

Tech companies face a fundamental choice with no winning answer for keeping data centers cool.

eenews.net

...and just weeks ago, Amazon opened investigations into workers who testified in support of a data center moratorium in Seattle. Nothing to see here, right?

Amazon Employees for Climate Justice@amzn4climate.bsky.social · last mo.

"What more tech workers want to see is a real conversation about what we can do differently to build out AI more responsibly, to build it out more sustainably" www.kuow.org/stories/amaz...

More data center hopecore! NJ lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favor of eliminating $250M in data center tax credits. Instead, the credits will go to economic development projects that actually benefit locals. newjerseyglobe.com/legislature/...

Legislature votes to eliminate $250 million in AI data center tax credits - New Jersey Globe

Assemblyman Andrew Macurdy (D-Summit) hailed the overwhelming bipartisan support for legislation eliminating $250 million in uncommitted tax credits for

newjerseyglobe.com

Plans for the largest data center in the world have been abandoned. Blackstone-owned QTS has decided not to appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court, giving up on the world’s largest data center. Fierce opposition and organizing from residents of Price William County ultimately beat out Blackstone.

Blackstone-owned QTS abandons planned world’s largest data center campus after years of lawsuits — 2,100-acre Virginia Digital Gateway project dies over a newspaper-notice technicality

Project faced several lawsuits despite initial approval

tomshardware.com

Amazon is piloting a program that would automate staffing decisions to reassign warehouse workers to different areas throughout the day. Just another way it treats workers as replaceable, interchangeable cogs. www.businessinsider.com/amazon-wareh...

Amazon's next warehouse efficiency drive is about moving humans, not just packages

Amazon is testing software to move warehouse workers more efficiently, aiming to save millions of labor hours a year, internal documents show.

businessinsider.com

Especially good news since Prime Week coincides with the hottest days of summer, which can be a deadly combination for workers.

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · last mo.

Extreme heat is a worker safety issue. The workers who build our skyline, staff our airports, stock our warehouses, and deliver our packages, keep this city running.  This executive order will ensure they come home safe at the end of every shift.

In the words of one electrician, "we're almost always working for the worst possible people in the end, but we all need a paycheck because of the unlivable world that those same rich people have created for us.” 🔥🔥🔥

Caroline Haskins@carolinehaskins.bsky.social · last mo.

NEW: As resistance to data centers grows, I noticed some interesting convos happening online.... electricians are debating whether wiring data centers is morally neutral, or if it makes you a sell-out. To learn more, I spoke with electricians engaged in this debate: www.wired.com/story/data-c...

Amazon workers who testified in support of reasonable data center regulations in Seattle are now being intimidated and investigated by the company. ...not exactly a great way for Amazon to convince the public that data centers are in the public's best interest.

Amazon Employees for Climate Justice@amzn4climate.bsky.social · 2mo ago

“I had this rising sense of anger that Amazon is attempting to infringe on my rights to speak out politically in my city,” he said. “If we allow corporations to decide which speech is or is not allowed, that absolutely hurts democracy.” 💪 www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/t...

Delivery service providers contracted with Amazon report being told they must "precisely follow any route Amazon’s software lays out for them, even if it makes no sense, to help the algorithm learn." Yet Amazon still doesn't treat these folks as employees. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

What Trump Delivered for Amazon

The feds were pushing a landmark case about Amazon’s control of its contract drivers. Then the president put Amazon’s former lawyer in charge.

bloomberg.com

More data center resistance in the heartland! Residents in Hobart IN are demonstrating to let Gov. Braun know that data centers are a bad deal for Hoosiers. The state has already given Amazon $8 billion in subsidies for data center buildouts.