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article <\/p>\n article <\/p>\n
The proposed site of an AI innovation campus in Oakland, Calif. <\/p>\n
OAKLAND – A downtown Oakland <\/a>building that once housed a supercomputer facility for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is now the proposed site for a new technology project<\/a> \u2014 though its advocates reject the notion that it is a traditional data center.<\/p>\n AI and innovation campus or data center? <\/p>\n What we know:<\/p>\n Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife and developer Colin Behring spoke outside the building at the corner of Thomas L. Berkley Way and Franklin Street on Friday to address the project. Fife called the proposed facility an “AI campus,” while Behring referred to it as an “innovation campus.”<\/p>\n Behring, who is also developing other properties in the area \u2014 including a former Kaiser Permanente building nearby \u2014 noted that the site is merely a “dot on a map” in terms of physical footprint, adding that power and water supply will not be an issue.<\/p>\n “I hope everybody just has a little faith in us, because of what we already delivered here for downtown in a very difficult environment, during COVID and everything else,” Behring said, emphasizing a desire to revitalize the area and prevent empty streets.<\/p>\n Project is different than traditional data center, Fife says <\/p>\n Local perspective:<\/p>\n Fife, a former Moms 4 Housing organizer, acknowledged common public concerns regarding large-scale data centers, particularly their heavy environmental footprint and high use of electricity and water. However, she emphasized that this project is different.<\/p>\n “I wanted to be absolutely, critically clear, that this is not the large-scale mega facility that people have expressed \u2014 and legitimately so \u2014 concerns,” Fife said, adding that what is being proposed could foster economic growth.<\/p>\n Members of the California Public Utilities Commission met Thursday morning and moved an agenda item to the next meeting in August. This item was an understanding between Google and PG&E concerning a proposed 250-megawatt data center in the South Bay.\u00a0<\/p>\n Community perspective <\/p>\n What they’re saying:<\/p>\n Despite assurances, community members and labor advocates remain cautious.\u00a0<\/p>\n An unidentified resident who encountered the press availability expressed worry about public costs, asking how potential energy and cooling needs might ultimately impact taxpayers.\u00a0<\/p>\n “And even if the energy and cooling systems are being different, we have to take into account how that impacts taxpayers,” she said.<\/p>\n Stasia Hansen, policy director at the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, is also monitoring the proposal.<\/p>\n “All economic development in the East Bay should put our residents and workers first and create long-lasting benefits for them,” she said. “And regardless of the size of this AI facility, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to be at the center of their priorities.”<\/p>\n \u2018Responsible AI\u2019 <\/p>\n Dig deeper:<\/p>\n Depending on the final scope, Fife noted the facility could potentially proceed under existing zoning requirements without requiring city council approval. However, she stressed the need for strict oversight.<\/p>\n “What I want to see is responsible AI \u2014 period,” Fife said.<\/p>\n What’s next:<\/p>\n The project remains in its preliminary stages and has not yet come before the Oakland City Council. Fife stated she is currently working on drafting local laws to regulate and mandate responsible AI development.<\/p>\n The Source: Interviews with Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife, developer Colin Behring and Stasia Hansen, policy director at the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy.<\/p>\n Oakland<\/a>Technology<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article The proposed site of an AI innovation campus in Oakland, Calif. OAKLAND – A downtown Oakland building…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,14768,25,2840,66,5976,134,156],"class_list":["post-140563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-alameda-county","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-ca","tag-news","tag-oakland","tag-technology","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Poll:](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0ku9gjwpmlbh9h6e.jpg\")
Poll: CA Residents oppose new AI data centers <\/a> <\/p>\n