The AI industry is so unpopular that it has started paying for the support it can’t earn. So what does it take for people to turn that mistrust into power that the industry can’t just buy off?

More like this: Flock Shock: How Local Fights Over Surveillance Are Reshaping American Politics w/ Sarah Hamid & Anthony Ralphs

In this episode, Steven Renderos, Executive Director of MediaJustice, walks us through our current political climate as data centers become a kitchen table issue and AI PACs stealthily pour hundreds of millions of dollars into the midterms. Steven also argues that the biggest mistake we can make is accepting the inevitability argument, and shares how we can build something that holds up for the next fight and the fights to come.

Further reading & resources:

• BroBots vs the People Campaign — MediaJustice
• The People Say No: Resisting Data Centers in the South — MediaJustice
• Media Capture: Who Controls the Story Controls the Future — MediaJustice
• While the Left Sleeps — Phil Agre, Wired, Aug 1995

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Computer Says Maybe is produced by Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout.

You may have seen the viral clip of a man in a full Darth Vader costume protesting Flock at a San Diego City Council meeting. The man behind the mask was Anthony Ralphs, who spent months trying to get the city to reconsider its contract with the surveillance tech company. After repeatedly raising concerns with the council, he turned to political theater - and got national attention. His protest is part of a growing backlash against Flock, bringing people across the political spectrum together to challenge surveillance tech and demand more say in how it’s used.

In this episode, Anthony reflects on what it took to get people to listen. Then, Sarah Hamid from the Electronic Frontier Foundation breaks down how Flock’s data-sharing works and explains a strategy gaining traction in communities looking to get this technology out of their cities: bringing lawmakers and community organizers together before contracts are signed. Together, they unpack how backlash against Flock is turning frustration with surveillance tech into renewed political engagement.

Further reading and resources:

• The Man Behind the Anti-Flock Darth Vader Mask Wants to Know: 'When Will This End? — 404 Media
• Flock Taught Cops How to Surveil No Kings Protesters — 404 Media
• Street Level Surveillance: ALPRs** — Electronic Frontier Foundation
• EFF's Policy Position on ALPR Surveillance: Eliminate It and Reduce Its Harms — Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Cities terminate Flock contracts at record pace in August — Ars Technica

Join The Maybe Collective to explore the politics of technology with a community of fellow co-conspirators. Sign up for monthly insights, access to exclusive digital events, and real ways to get more involved on issues you care about.

Computer Says Maybe is produced by Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

Tech companies keep telling us that the answer to solving climate change lies in AI. Meanwhile, the data centers required to power AI are keeping coal plants open longer, bringing in gas turbines, and driving plans for power stations bigger than anything we’ve built before.

More like this: The Colossus Crossroads: Fighting for the Future of Memphis w/ KeShaun Pearson

In this episode, Ketan Joshi, an independent climate analyst based in Oslo who tracks the climate impact of data centers and AI, explains how we got from facilities that drew the power of a suburb to facilities that consume as much electricity as Nigeria’s entire power grid.

A former wind industry advocate, Ketan breaks down how a company can claim to run on 100% renewable energy while still driving up fossil fuel use, why Big Tech stopped talking about offsets and started promising that AI itself will solve the climate crisis, and what you find when you read the footnotes of their sustainability reports.

He also argues that the real winners of the AI boom aren't even the tech companies... but fossil fuel companies like Chevron, who still come out ahead even if the bubble pops.

Further reading & resources:

• Ketan Joshi’s Big Tech Annual Emissions + Energy Data Reports
• The AI Climate Hoax Report — Ketan Joshi
• The real energy use of agentic AI — Zeke Hausfather
• Microsoft and Chevron plan one of the largest gas-powered data center projects in US — TechCrunch, June 2026

Join The Maybe Collective for our first event: How to Resist AI in Schools: Learnings on Local Action with recent podcast guest, Ifeoma Ozoma ​on Thursday, October 15th 12-1pm ET for a participatory conversation about turning activation into action. This event is free to register HERE.

Computer Says Maybe is produced by Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout.