Hawaii Considers Future of AI Data Center Development

A collective of university professors, nonprofit leaders, and community organizers published an opinion piece in Honolulu Civil Beat, drawing parallels between the historical overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom for plantation agriculture and the potential impact of new AI data centers. The authors, including Keolu Fox and Josiah Hester, warn that if not built differently, these data centers could perpetuate an "extractive" economic model. They highlight the significant resource demands of modern hyperscale data centers, noting that a single facility can consume billions of gallons of water annually, comparable to the Wahiawā reservoir on Oʻahu, and account for substantial electricity use and carbon emissions. The piece points out that current smaller data centers in Hawaii, such as AlohaNAP and DRFortress, benefit out-of-state owners while utilizing local resources. The authors advocate for an "ahupuaʻa-inspired" model of computing, prioritizing local ownership, data sovereignty, and energy- and water-aware systems that are smaller, distributed, and integrated into local ecosystems, to cultivate intelligence within Hawaii rather than extracting it.