Virginia governor creates an AI task force and moves to restrain data centers

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger has enacted Executive Order 22, a directive aimed at increasing local oversight over data center expansion and mitigating the societal risks of artificial intelligence.

Under the new mandate, state executive branch officials are prohibited from entering into non-disclosure agreements with data center operators, and authorities must accelerate noise rules and scrutinize backup generators used by these facilities. The order also institutes a specialized artificial intelligence task force, which will evaluate issues such as potential job loss and privacy concerns while exploring how current state regulations can protect citizens from AI-related damages.

Additionally, the governor introduced a comprehensive Data Center Accountability Framework designed to establish stricter standards for the industry going forward. This initiative seeks to end automatic land-use approvals for developers, scale back state financial subsidies, enforce environmental protections, and prevent energy rate increases for residential consumers. While the changes have received positive feedback from environmental advocates, some local conservation groups argue that the regulations are insufficient because they only govern future developments rather than addressing the ongoing environmental and community impacts of pre-existing or pipeline data centers.