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Gov. Spencer Cox urges balanced AI policy, flags energy strain from proposed data centers
Summary
At a Utah Business and Commerce event, Gov. Spencer Cox described state efforts to pair industry and regulators through an "innovation policy lab," warned that large AI data centers can consume vast amounts of power, and promoted Utah's collaborative business culture and energy projects.
Governor Spencer Cox said at a Utah Business and Commerce event that state leaders are trying to strike a balance between encouraging artificial intelligence innovation and protecting the public from its risks, and he warned that proposed AI data centers could demand more power than entire states currently use.
Cox said Utah is emerging as a national fintech and AI leader and described a policy effort to embed private-sector innovators with government regulators in a so-called innovation policy lab. "Could we do that? And we came up with this policy lab idea where we would basically embed the private sector with government to work hand in hand," Cox said. He added the lab would let companies innovate with regulatory insight and reduce uncertainty about whether projects will be allowed to proceed.
The governor framed the approach as one that helps…
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