Overview
- Mark Cuban, who posted on X Friday, urged major AI companies including OpenAI and Anthropic to treat multibillion-dollar spending in affected towns as a cost of doing business.
- Cuban warned that firms have 'lost the PR battle' and that paying celebrities or funding politicians will not win public trust or blunt protests against data centers.
- He called for company leaders to meet artists and creative unions in person to ask what financial and creative support they need and to follow those requests.
- Cuban said opposition to data centers is a stand-in for broader public fear about concentrated wealth and AI-driven job losses, not just local infrastructure concerns.
- Reporters note rising AI-linked layoffs this year and say Cuban’s proposal faces practical hurdles including who pays, investor priorities, and the absence of formal corporate commitments.