Tech founders back Trump's AI self-policing; Fresno moves to limit data centers

Key Takeaways

A 308-word voluntary AI safety pact drew support from Silicon Valley founders in late September.
The State Department told some diplomats to say "super intelligence" instead of "artificial intelligence."
Fresno advanced a move to prohibit data centers inside city limits on Sept. 3, 2026.
UC Merced is building out campuswide AI efforts, including an undergraduate AI major.

Three hundred eight words, not a law, set off cheers in parts of Silicon Valley last month. Fresno Councilmember Nick Richardson read the headlines and kept working his own file: a move to stop data centers inside the city. The national talk on AI safety is now brushing up against local fights over where the power and water go.

It isn’t a law.

What changed in Washington

President Donald Trump gathered tech leaders in Washington on Sept. 29 for a luncheon and a ceremonial signing of a voluntary AI safety pact. Founders and investors praised the idea that the industry should police itself, even as the administration promotes the term "super intelligence" and leans on agencies to follow that rebrand. The pact isn’t binding, which is the rub, but it signals where federal rhetoric sits for now.

What it could mean in the Valley

Federal talk about self-policing lands while cities and utilities try to manage data center growth tied to AI. In Congress, lawmakers are weighing rules that would put new costs and reporting on big compute sites because of their heavy power draw. Here, that isn’t an abstract fight. Fresno is debating whether to allow any data centers at all, and the city’s Southeast Development Area guide says there’s no current zoning that permits them anyway. UC Merced, meanwhile, is expanding AI teaching and governance, which means more local grads ready for these jobs even if the servers spin up elsewhere.

A half-empty water bottle sat by the clerk’s laptop.

Who’s setting local rules

On Sept. 3, the Fresno City Council voted to start a text amendment that would prohibit data centers citywide. That move followed months of debate about energy use, water, and noise. Up the valley, state regulators are reviewing a separate data center proposal through a special permit track, a reminder that even when Washington favors voluntary pacts, the hard decisions on siting and grids live closer to home. UC Merced has also formed an AI Advisory Council to guide campus use of the technology, part policy and part practice.

"Local governments are going to carry the weight on this, one zoning vote at a time," a planner told me this week. Then he capped his pen and left the room.

Central Valley AI is produced by the CVAI Newsdesk team and developed by Kaweah Tech, a regional firm that builds, deploys, and integrates AI solutions for businesses across California's Central Valley.

Source

https://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/nation-world/national/article317561735.html