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BREAKING: “Republican congressional candidate Tom Smith says the Great Lakes make Michigan ideal for data centers”

Smith: “This ought to be the number one place for data centers because, you know, like we’ve got 60 miles of water at most places on three sides.”
Breaking new reporting reveals that during a closed door Genesee County Republican Party event, Tom Smith said Michigan “ought to be the number one place for data centers because, you know, like we’ve got 60 miles of water at most places on 3 sides.”

SMITH: “I’m in favor of them [data centers]… And if we can’t handle the water situation in the Great Lakes State, this ought to be the number one place for data centers because, you know, like we’ve got 60 miles of water at most places on three sides.”

REMINDER: Smith previously said he “would not interfere with the development of AI” and he backs the bill that gives tens of billions of dollars in tax breaks to data centers.

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Detroit Metro Times: Republican congressional candidate Tom Smith says the Great Lakes make Michigan ideal for data centers

  • Republican congressional candidate Tom Smith says Michigan should embrace the massive data centers fueling the artificial intelligence boom, pointing to the Great Lakes as one reason the state should welcome the industry. 
  • And what about all of the opposition to data centers? It’s China’s fault, he claims without evidence. 
  • “I’m in favor of them,” Smith said during a Sept. 17 Genesee County Republican Party event in Grand Blanc.
  • Smith, who is challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, argued that Michigan can’t afford to turn away an entire industry.
  • “Michigan economically is in no position to turn away a whole sector of the economy,” Smith said.
  • Smith suggested data centers could eventually generate their own electricity using small modular nuclear reactors. Then he turned to water, which data centers can consume in enormous quantities.
  • “And if we can’t handle the water situation in the Great Lakes State, this ought to be the number one place for data centers because, you know, like we’ve got 60 miles of water at most places on 3 sides,” Smith said.
  • Smith also offered a more conspiratorial explanation for the opposition, claiming without evidence that China is helping fuel the backlash.
  • “I think it’s a— all this uproar is created by the Chinese trying to get us to unilaterally drop,” Smith said.

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