KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — As demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing surges, a University of Tennessee researcher aims to answer a growing list of questions about the rapid expansion of data centers across the Southeast and what it means for Tennessee communities.
Backed by a $1 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the three-year project will track where data centers are being built, how those decisions are made and the potential impacts on energy systems, the environment and local economies.
Assistant professor Gabe Schwartzman, a co-principal investigator on the study, said concerns are already emerging in some communities…