A hot potato: There's been an unusual trend recently: despite increasing pushback against data center construction and AI in general, more people than ever are using the technology. One company CEO has highlighted this apparent hypocritical behavior, noting that critics might not be so vocal if forced to choose between shutting down data centers and shutting down ChatGPT.
"All the people that are saying they're anti-data center, that they're anti-AI in general, they're using it," said Verb boss Cyrus Beschloss at CNBC's Trading the Midterms event.
He also noted that for some people, choosing between removing all data centers or losing ChatGPT wouldn't be as easy a decision as they make it seem.
"There's going to be a heck of a crossroads," Beschloss said.
The CEO has a good reason to point out the flaws in some people's anti-AI stance. His company, Verb, is a US data marketplace that lets people earn money by selling access to their personal data to companies. It connects buyers seeking data for AI training and other uses with individuals willing to share it. Users choose what information to share and set a minimum selling price.
Beschloss says Verb currently has around 25,000 users, but he expects that figure to grow to about a million in a year or so.
It's hard to argue with what he's saying, though. Surveys regularly show that an increasing number of Americans are more concerned than excited about AI, while people who think it will have a negative effect on society far outnumber those who believe its effects will be positive. From mass job losses to human extinction, there are plenty of reasons why people are worried.
Data centers, meanwhile, have become one of the country's hot-button topics. There's outrage over the environmental damage caused by these facilities, the noise they generate, and their potential impact on people's health. Some companies are even trying to incentivize locals to allow their construction with the promise of massive investment, discounted internet, or cold, hard cash – and most locals still say no.
But those views seem to contradict the fact that more people than ever before are using AI. Back in June, ChatGPT became the fastest app to reach one billion monthly active users. It managed that 3.5 years after launch, beating the previous record holder, Google Maps, which took around five years after launch to hit the same number.
A survey published that same month also found that almost half (49%) of US adults now use chatbots, an increase from the 33% who used them two years earlier. This includes roughly one in four who use these tools on a daily basis.
