A developing week-long nor’easter is forming and will bring days of high surf, strong winds, coastal flooding and severe beach erosion to the East Coast.
Some areas could experience wind gusts up to 60 mph, with offshore waves reaching 15 to 18 feet.
The FOX Forecast Center said multiple days of continuous pounding waves will severely impact beaches.
A powerful, week-long nor’easter is taking shape along the East Coast, bringing days of high surf, strong winds, coastal flooding and severe beach erosion before the storm eventually tracks northward.
The system will begin developing Monday and continue through the weekend as a sharp fall cold front pushes off the coast while strong high pressure builds to the north.
Strong northeasterly winds will develop across the offshore and coastal waters, producing powerful wind gusts.
Seas will rise rapidly, creating heavy surf and dangerous, battering waves along exposed beaches.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, persistent onshore winds will remain locked in through multiple high-tide cycles, allowing waves to relentlessly pound the base of coastal dunes.
Significant beach erosion and dune scarping will develop from the Outer Banks through the Mid-Atlantic and Long Island as the surface low-pressure system forms.
Home collapses in Buxton, N.C. on Sept. 30, 2025.
The FOX Forecast Center said moderate coastal flooding is expected during high tides, particularly in vulnerable back bays and low-lying coastal roadways.
The Outer Banks are forecast to see major coastal flooding, extreme surf and heavy, continuous rain. Some areas could experience wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph, with offshore waves reaching 15 to 18 feet.
The FOX Forecast Center said multiple days of continuous pounding waves will severely impact beaches. Dune washouts and damage to oceanfront boardwalks and coastal infrastructure will become increasingly likely across Mid-Atlantic and Long Island beaches.
Compounding tidal flooding and heavy wave action will also begin to impact the southern half of North Carolina.
Raindrops form on the top of a monument in front of the skyline of lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center as a nor'easter storm moves into New York City on October 12, 2025, as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey.
Wind gusts along immediate coastal areas could reach 40 to 50 mph, pushing ocean water inland.
By Saturday and Sunday, the low-pressure center is expected to track north toward the I-95 corridor and New England, solidifying the nor’easter.
As the strengthening system tracks into or near New England, the strongest pressure gradient will impact the region, including Boston.
People walk over the Brooklyn Bridge in the rain as New York City experiences wind and rain associated with a nor’easter storm moving through the region on October 13, 2025 in New York City.
However, the FOX Forecast Center said there are a few scenarios that could unfold as the storm moves north.
One scenario is if the low shifts closer to Boston. This could turn the storm into a major weather event, featuring 60 to 70 mph wind gusts, heavy rainfall, major storm surge and significant disruptions to Boston Harbor and the Massachusetts coastline.
On the other hand, if the low shifts closer to New Jersey or Long Island, the strongest impacts could shift farther south, potentially putting New York City on the fringe of the storm.
Finally, if the low remains offshore, coastal New England could still experience rough surf, elevated tides and breezy conditions, while the heaviest rain and strongest winds remain displaced to the south and east over open water. The FOX Forecast Center said this scenario is appearing less likely.
What is certain, according to the FOX Forecast Center, is that wind gusts could reach over 60 mph as the peak of the storm shifts into southern New England, Massachusetts Bay and the Gulf of Maine.
A person wearing a rain poncho struggles with their umbrella in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
Some areas could see waves reaching 15 to 18 feet along the coast.
Peak onshore winds, high astronomical tides and trapped coastal water will create the greatest risk for significant coastal inundation and structural flooding along east-facing shores, including Boston Harbor, Cape Cod and the north and south shores.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met China's Vice Premier He Lifeng [Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent/X]
Top US and Chinese officials have discussed creating a new "notification mechanism" for AI incidents that could affect national security, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Sunday.
Bessent made the comments after what he called "successful" talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York.
The meeting came as US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are due to hold a summit in Washington later this week.
AI has come under intense scrutiny in recent days after researchers warned of the potential risks posed by the technology and some of the industry's most high profile figures called for developers to take a more cautious approach.
"We think that, just like with any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the number one and the number two AI powers in the world is very important," Bessent told reporters after the talks.
He said the meeting also covered other topics, including plans to "operationalise" a process to identify potential tariff cuts on goods called the Board of Trade.
A truce in the tariffs war between the world's two biggest economies is due to expire on 10 November.
The BBC has contacted the Chinese embassy in the US for comment.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua said the two sides had "candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges on key economic and trade issues", noting that they had discussed AI.
Bessent said in a post on X on Sunday that the talks "help lay the groundwork for President Trump to advance America's economic interests and deliver results for the American people."
The US and China are locked in a race to dominate the AI and technology industries.
Flames and large plume of black smoke seen rising near Riyadh airport - Reuters
As world leaders prepare to gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this week, a growing number of flashpoints across the Middle East are raising concerns about a wider regional escalation, from renewed fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen to fresh warnings exchanged between Washington and Tehran.
Why are the Houthis and Saudi Arabia back at the center of regional tensions?
A dramatic Houthi offensive in Yemen has emerged as one of the most significant developments heading into UNGA.
The Iran-backed group has seized key territory in recent weeks, including a strategically important island in the Red Sea and coastal areas overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a crucial maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. US and Gulf officials have expressed growing concern that the Houthis are seeking to establish greater control over the waterway, which is vital to global trade and energy shipments.
Despite receiving increased US intelligence and targeting support, Saudi Arabia has struggled to halt the Houthi advance. CNN reported Friday that Gulf and American officials are increasingly doubtful Riyadh can reverse the Houthi gains on its own.
Houthi fighters escort a convoy carrying prisoners freed in Mokha through the Bani Matar district on its way to Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, following the Houthi takeover of the southern Red Sea port city. - Stringer/AP
The fighting has intensified sharply in recent days. Saudi Arabia accused the Houthis of targeting Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, while the Houthis claimed they shot down a Saudi F‑15 fighter jet over Yemen. On Saturday, the group also claimed missile and drone attacks on “sensitive” sites in Riyadh and an Aramco oil facility in Yanbu.
The latest exchanges underscore fears that Yemen is becoming an increasingly important front in the broader regional confrontation involving Iran.
Why are US embassies warning Americans?
Amid the worsening security environment, the US State Department and several US diplomatic missions have urged Americans in the region to exercise increased caution.
On Saturday, the State Department warned that the conflict “has the potential to escalate rapidly” and advised heightened vigilance.
Separately, the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia issued a security alert restricting travel by US government personnel to the cities of Taif and Yanbu without special authorization.
The warnings come as officials monitor the possibility of additional attacks involving Iran, Iranian-aligned groups and US partners in the region.
Women and children who fled fighting between the Houthis and government forces in Red Sea coastline areas walk at a camp for internally displaced people near Aden, Yemen, on September 19. - Stringer/Reuters
What are Iran and Trump saying?
Iran’s central military command said Sunday it had received information suggesting the United States, with support from regional partners, could be preparing new military action against Iran.
In a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency, Iran warned that any new US attack would trigger sustained strikes on US bases and interests across the region. Tehran also warned that countries assisting such operations would be considered parties to the conflict.
There have been no publicly reported US strikes on Iran for more thantwo weeks.
US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, further raised tensions with remarks indicating major decisions on Iran may be approaching.
Speaking to Fox News, Trump said he was in “deciding mode” and that “very big things” could happen soon. According to Fox correspondent Trey Yingst, Trump outlined three possible outcomes for Iran: a deal with Washington, increased economic pressure or military action.
At the same time, Trump said his administration remains in contact with the Houthis and is still avoiding direct US military involvement in the group’s conflict with Saudi Arabia.
Which Middle East leaders will be at UNGA?
Regional diplomacy is expected to be dominated by discussions on Iran, Yemen, maritime security and energy markets.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan is leading a delegation, while Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain are all sending senior representatives.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is also expected to attend the General Assembly after the Trump administration approved travel for a core Iranian delegation.
“Consistent with our host country obligations, the core delegation from the Iranian regime will be able to attend UN General Assembly High Level Week,” a State Department spokesperson said Thursday.
With fighting intensifying in Yemen, threats escalating between Washington and Tehran, and energy markets remaining sensitive to disruptions, many diplomats arriving in New York see this year’s General Assembly as taking place under one of the most volatile Middle East security environments in recent years.
CNN’s Tim Lister contributed to this story.
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A surge of inflation has hiked prices for everything from gasoline to tomatoes, but a looming source of sticker shock will drop onto household budgets over the coming months: heating costs.
The historic oil shortage set off by the Iran war is expected to drive up heating bills at a pace more than twice the level of overall inflation, squeezing households as they weather elevated prices for a range of other essentials, some analysts told ABC News.
U.S. households will spend an average of $1,030 to heat their homes this winter, which amounts to an increase of 8.7% compared to last year, the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) said in a report earlier this week.
Households that rely on heating oil -- a major heating source in the Northeast U.S. -- will suffer a staggering average price increase of 31.3% compared to last year, NEADA found. Customers who depend on natural gas are expected to face a jump of 5.8%.
"The costs we're expecting are unusually high this winter," David Konisky, a political science professor at Indiana University and co-director of the Energy Justice Lab, told ABC News.
A large-scale U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in late February prompted Iran's near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which facilitates one-fifth of global crude supply.
The ensuing war set off the largest oil supply disruption on record and prompted the release of hundreds of millions of barrels of reserve crude from emergency storage in dozens of countries. A six-month stretch of on-again, off-again fighting has continued to choke off oil supply and keep prices elevated.
Global oil prices stood at about $103 a barrel as of Friday afternoon, putting them nearly 50% higher than their pre-war level. The surge in crude costs has propelled diesel prices to a record high and pushed the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline to $4.46, AAA data showed.
Mohammed Aty/Reuters - PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Drone view of oil tanker HELGA berthed at one of Iraq's southern offshore oil terminals near Basra
Lesser-known fallout from the oil spike will soon hit heating bills as temperatures cool later this year, some analysts said.
The average heating oil price in Maine, for instance, registers at $5.77 per gallon, putting it 74% higher than a year ago, the Maine Department of Energy Resources (DOER) said earlier this week.
Alicia Fasulo, the director of heating assistance at The Opportunity Alliance, a non-profit in southern Maine, said many low-income families in the region are "extremely concerned" about heating costs as winter approaches.
"They have tough decisions about whether to pay for their groceries, whether to pay for their medications, electric bills or fuel costs," Fasulo said.
"Our clients are faced with tough decisions every winter season, but the cost of fuel has never been this high since I started with the heat program seven years ago," Fasulo added.
Maine residents will spend an average of nearly $675 more to fill a standard 275-gallon tank to capacity than they would have a year ago, the DOER said.
Eligible households can avail themselves of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a federally-funded program that provides $4 billion in annual support to defray heating costs.
The program is a "huge help" for roughly 5,000 applicants who receive assistance from The Opportunity Alliance submitting paperwork each year, Fasulo said.
Only one of every five eligible households nationwide gains access to the program each year, however, in part due to the limited resources available, Konisky said.
"There is much more demand than there are resources to fill that demand," Konisky added.
To be sure, the precise heating costs to be incurred this winter remain uncertain. The price of heating oil could fluctuate and El NiƱo may bring warmer-than-usual temperatures.
Still, it remains all but certain that elevated inflation will persist into the winter months, Konisky said.
The annual inflation rate stood at 3.4% as of August, the most recent month on record, putting inflation more than a percentage point above the Federal Reserve's target rate of 2%.
"Families will have to figure out how to balance the essential needs they have," Konisky said.
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Moscow’s mayor described the wave of drones as the “largest ever” attack on the Russian capital and said there had been damage to a Moscow oil refinery and a residential building.
Across the wider Moscow region, the attack killed two people and wounded 20, local Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said. The dead were a 74-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman, he said.
Writing on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv had used a range of missiles and drones in the attack — including Ukraine's domestically made Flamingo and Pelican missiles — to hit oil and logistics facilities.
"These are billions of dollars that sustain the war machine," Zelenskyy said, referring to the financial pressure that Kyiv hopes to put on Russia's economy.
The voting underway in Russia is the country's first wartime parliamentary election — balloting that has been virtually devoid of opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s policies and is all but certain to cement the Kremlin’s dominance.
Russia was also holding the vote in the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed after the war began but still doesn’t fully control, and in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Kyiv has denounced the action as illegal.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that its forces shot down 1,100 Ukrainian drones across the country, as well as over the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the waters of the Black Sea.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that 450 drones had been destroyed en route to the Russian capital, and that the attack had damaged the Moscow Oil Refinery and a residential building.
He said the “unprecedented attack” on Moscow was an attempt to disrupt the elections. "The enemy failed in this regard," he said.
Since Russia’s invasion more than four years ago, Ukraine has become a global leader in military drone technology, deploying domestically produced long-range drones alongside missiles for strikes deep inside Russia. Its drone technology has impressed governments and defense manufacturers around the world.
Instead, Moscow and Kyiv have been drawn into an escalating duel of long-range aerial strikes as fighting along the roughly 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line in eastern and southern Ukraine has slowed, restricted by large numbers of drones and ground robots threatening troop movements.
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Yemen's Houthi armed forces patrol as Yemeni prisoners loyal to the Houthi authorities arrive in the capital Sanaa on September 12 (Mohammed HUWAIS)
The United States warned Saturday that hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthis could "escalate rapidly" after a missile attack targeted Riyadh for the first time since the Yemen conflict resumed.
US President Donald Trump cut short a weekend at Camp David, a secluded presidential complex in rural Maryland, to return unexpectedly to the White House on Saturday.
The White House gave no explanation for the early return, which comes as a new threshold was crossed in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, who control a large part of Yemen and are fighting government forces backed by a coalition led by Riyadh.
Loud explosions rang out twice on Saturday in the Saudi capital, where AFP journalists saw a fuel tank bearing the logo of oil giant Aramco on fire near the airport.
"This military conflict has the potential to escalate rapidly," the US State Department warned, adding American citizens outside the Middle East should "seriously reconsider travel to and through the region".
The Houthis's lightning offensive seizing swathes of Yemeni territory in recent weeks has left hundreds dead and, according to the UN, displaced more than 110,000 people.
- 'Thwarted'-
These clashes and the subsequent hostilities with the kingdom have already disrupted Saudi Arabia's exports -- the world's leading supplier of crude oil -- as well as maritime traffic.
The Riyadh-led coalition confirmed Saturday evening on X that a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards the capital was "successfully intercepted and destroyed".
The coalition added that the pro-Iranian fighters had tried to target "civilians and civilian infrastructure" in several cities in the west of the kingdom, including the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, an important export hub for Saudi oil.
It said these attacks were "thwarted by the Gulf monarchy's air defences".
Saudi Arabia has responded with scores of airstrikes on Houthi-held areas but failed to stop the advance.
The Houthis said it had responded to recent Saudi attacks by carrying out "two successful military operations using a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones", Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement on Telegram.
"The first targeted sensitive sites in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and the second targeted Aramco facilities in Yanbu."
Saudi authorities had earlier issued an overnight air raid alert.
Hours after the early morning alert, residents told AFP on condition of anonymity that they heard what sounded like a round of explosions echoing through parts of the Saudi capital.
- Lightning offensive -
This is the first time since Yemen's civil war resumed that strikes have threatened the Saudi capital, piling further pressure on a global economy already rocked by seven months of war between the US and Iran.
"The area is under a hostile aerial threat," according to a message received just before 3:00 am by Riyadh residents, urging them to stay indoors.
AFP journalists then heard two explosions, before the Saudi civil defence agency lifted the alert half an hour later.
"I heard the alarm, then my windows shook," a Riyadh resident told AFP. Another resident described the attack as "terrifying".
The incident comes days after Riyadh accused the Houthis of targeting Mecca on Wednesday, denouncing it as a "cowardly terrorist attack" on Islam's holy city, which welcomes millions of pilgrims each year. The Houthis strongly denied the accusation, calling it a "worn-out lie".
The group has reported scores of retaliatory strikes carried out daily by Riyadh since their offensive this month to take over the country's entire Red Sea coast, giving them control over the vital Bab al-Mandab strait.
The United States, according to US news platform Axios, last week refused a Saudi request to strike the Houthis.
Washington approved a $24.3 billion sale of 48 F-35 fighter jets to the kingdom on Thursday to help Riyadh "deter current and future threats", the US State Department said.
War in Yemen broke out in 2014 when the Houthis seized control of the capital Sanaa and other regions, triggering a military intervention led by Saudi Arabia in March 2015.
The fragile truce reached in 2022 between the warring parties collapsed in July, when the Houthis defied Riyadh's control of Yemeni airspace by allowing an Iranian aircraft to land in Yemen.
The apparent attack came as the Houthis improve their defences in newly conquered territory along Yemen's Red Sea coastline, with members of the group telling AFP they have been installing radar and digging tunnels.
burs-ane/abs
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Russia has intensified attacks against Ukraine as its full-scale invasion grinds through its fifth year (Oleksandr GIMANOV)
US President Donald Trump signed a bill on Friday authorizing new sanctions designed to pressure Russia over its war in Ukraine, after Congress gave its approval after months of delay.
Washington is pushing to revive a mediated path towards ending the conflict as Moscow intensifies attacks against Ukraine, even though much of its attention -- and munitions -- are focused on the ongoing war against Iran.
The legislation, which US lawmakers approved this week, takes aim at Russia's energy and defense sectors, alongside President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials.
It also targets Moscow's so-called shadow fleet of tankers used to evade Western sanctions, and allows Trump the authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on major buyers of Russian oil and gas.
That could potentially cover China and India, and furthers efforts to cut off revenue financing Moscow's war.
The Republican-led House of Representatives passed the package by a 262-159 vote on Wednesday.
The bill would also target companies and foreign actors supporting Russia's military, and extend sanctions involving Iran.
But the broad powers to impose tariffs sparked an unusual split among Democrats, who largely support Ukraine but have resisted handing Trump wider authority over trade.
- Tougher pressure -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier hailed the legislation as "symbolic" and thanked US lawmakers.
The bill is "an extremely powerful tool that can stop this terrorist war and bring Russia to the point where it has to make peace," Zelensky wrote on X.
"Sanctions must be strong so that all efforts for peace -- including our joint diplomatic efforts with the United States, Europe, and our other friends -- can succeed," he added.
India said on Thursday it would continue buying oil "through diversified sourcing."
New Delhi -- which counts Russia as one of its most important strategic partners -- has navigated the energy crisis sparked by the US-Iran conflict in part by turning to Moscow, despite pressure from Western countries.
Supporters of the legislation argued that tougher economic pressure is needed against Moscow, which launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Congress vote was celebrated by pro-Ukraine activists, who pointed to continuing Russian attacks, including drone strikes on Wednesday on civilian transport in the south that officials in Kyiv said killed five people.
Trump has generally preferred to retain control over sanctions and tariffs rather than have Congress dictate policy, helping delay the measure for more than a year.
The president's signing of the bill comes a week before he is due to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Washington.
bys/jgc/cms/hol
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Saudi Arabia warned of a “hostile aerial threat” and issued a string of emergency alerts across the kingdom, including in its capital, late Friday and early Saturday.
Also Saturday, Iran’s state TV reported that a man was executed after being convicted on charges of spying for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Friday. Full coverage is available here.
Alerts sound across Saudi Arabia for aerial threat
Saudi Arabia warned of a “hostile aerial threat” after issuing a string of emergency alerts across the kingdom late Friday and early Saturday, and at least one explosion was heard in the capital, Riyadh.
The alert heard in Riyadh was first for the Saudi capital since the latest escalation with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
No casualties or damage were reported after the alerts were lifted. Saudi authorities didn't say what prompted the alerts or the cause of the audible explosions, but they previously reported intercepting incoming Houthi missiles and drones.
UN Security Council condemns Houthi missile attacks against Saudi Arabia and commercial vessels
The U.N.’s most powerful body said late Friday that the Houthis' military escalation, attacks and threats “risk further expanding the conflict, threatening maritime security and international trade” while undermining regional and international efforts to secure peace in Yemen.
It was warned that continued escalation would exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation in the country.
The council's 15 members called for “practical cooperation” to prevent the Iran-backed Houthis from acquiring arms, military training, financing and other military-related assistance needed to carry out their attacks. They stressed that all countries must enforce the U.N. arms embargo against the rebel group.
Iran executes man accused of spying for Israel
Iran's state TV reported on Saturday that a man identified as Hossein Pedram was executed after being convicted on charges of spying for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad.
The report said Pedram passed on to Israel classified information on “sensitive military sites” in Iran's Isfahan province. It didn't say how he accessed the classified information.
Pedram was reportedly arrested after those sites, which included missile bases, were targeted in the 12-day air-war by the U.S. and Israel against Iran in June last year.
A recent surge of executions in Iran prompted an international outcry by human rights groups.
___
This piece will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
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President Donald Trump said Friday that his son Donald Trump Jr. has paid back a Russian oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin who the Trumps have confirmed hosted two nights of parties after Trump Jr.'s wedding.
Trump was asked in the Oval Office on Friday whether it was appropriate for his son to have accepted the gift from Umar Kremlev.
"Well, it's totally, it's totally allowed. And a lot of people have parties and all, but it's totally allowed," Trump said. "But as I understand it, he paid them back. He didn't want to have that, so I hear he paid them back. A person that he knows pretty, I guess a friend of his, gave him a wedding party. That's very common."
NurPhoto via Getty Images - PHOTO: Bettina Anderson Trump and her husband Donald Trump Jr. hold hands while standing together during the formal welcoming parade lines inside Aras an Uachtarain on Sept. 12, 2026, in Dublin, Ireland.
ProPublica first reported on Kremlev's gift to Trump Jr.
Lawmakers and critics have expressed concern over the gift. Some of them warned that accepting expensive gifts from foreign adversaries could create potentially severe conflicts of interest and potential leverage over the president's family.
When pressed about Kremlev's close ties to the Kremlin, Trump suggested that his son "didn't do a background check."
A reporter commented that it was the first the public had heard that Trump Jr. paid Kremlev back.
"No, I heard I heard about that. I actually heard that -- when I heard the story, I asked about it. He said, 'No, I'm paying it back, Dad.' So, and that was a while ago," Trump later added.
ABC News has asked the White House and The Trump Organization for evidence that Trump Jr. paid Kremlev back.
Trump Jr.'s wife Bettina Anderson said in an Instagram post that Kremlev "very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding. It was an extraordinary gift from a friend and something for which were and remain incredibly grateful."
Kremlev's press office told ProPublica that “Mr. Kremlev and Mr. Trump Jr have a friendly relationship” and they first met "a couple of years ago." ABC News has reached out to Kremlev for comment.
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He was the sole holdout on a 12-person jury who otherwise voted to acquit Lindsay Clancy of murdering her three children — frustrating the defense and causing a mistrial.
After seven days of deliberations, and with specific instructions from Judge William Sullivan to follow the letter of the law on reasonable doubt, the jury said it still had one holdout who refused to budge. A mistrial was declared on Sept. 4.
Now, the lone juror, named Michael Desronvil, has come forward to share his side of the story, saying that he "didn't have any doubts" that Clancy was criminally responsible for the killings.
In a statement shared with CBS on Sept. 17 via his representative Ray Marcel, Desronvil said: "As I tried to explain different possible theories during deliberation, I kept getting cut off as if I had doubts based on the evidence present.
"Based on all the physical evidence, key witnesses, and what the prosecution presents, I thought it was enough proof that she knew exactly what she was doing and planned," he added.
Desronvil refused to acquit Clancy on charges of the murder of her three children, 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan, whom she admitted killing in 2023.
Attorney Edward Andrew Paltzik said in a social media post he was representing Desronvil and that his client would not be giving any interviews.
“We are focused entirely on his health, safety, and well-being,” Paltzik said. “There will be a time for accountability and a time for the real story of the Lindsay Clancy Trial to be told. But not right now.“
Paltzik added that his client was “safe and sound at an undisclosed secure location in a rural area of Northern New England.”
The trial centered on whether Clancy could be held legally responsible for their deaths, as her defense argued that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time.
The case is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 29.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington pictured making an argument, as the jury resumes deliberations, in Plymouth Superior Court.
Reuters / REUTERS
Desronvil’s statement follows a number of jurors giving their views publicly about the case.
Last week, one juror said that Desronvil, one of three men serving on the jury, did not cite "a single piece of evidence" to support his position.
Juror Nick Dargie said the holdout juror did not show the other jurors any witness testimony or evidence to support his position.
"There was several times I would ask him to show us evidence or, you know, describe a witness testimony that helped to prove what he was saying, and ... he couldn't," Dargie said in an interview with ABC News aired on Sept. 10.
"There wasn't a single piece of evidence or witness testimony that he used to prove why he was thinking the way he was," Dargie continued, explaining that this was why the jury had given a note to Judge William Sullivan that eventually led to a mistrial.
"Otherwise, like, there's nothing wrong with somebody having a completely opposite opinion ... that would be a hung jury. That, like, that is our justice system."
What else did the jurors say?
Prior to Dargie's ABC interview, jury foreperson Roni Carlson had told NBC10 Boston that the holdout juror blocked Clancy’s acquittal despite having reasonable doubt.
A guilty verdict requires guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the highest standard of proof in the U.S. legal system.
"He had reasonable doubt. He admitted he had reasonable doubt," Carlson said.
"I started filling out the forms, I was so excited. There were three forms I had to fill out, and then he said, 'But I'm still not going to say that she’s not guilty by reason of insanity.'"'
Another juror, who chose to remain anonymous, told local CBS station WBZ-TV that most of the jurors were "very firm in their stance," adding that "the stand-alone juror was not the only one that was unwilling to see things from the other side".
"I'm going to kind of defend that individual in a sense," she told WBZ-TV. "There were some big personalities in that room. But at the end of the day, it just came down to an inability to move past your convictions."
She added that there was "so much doubt."
"The prosecution didn't have a figurative smoking gun. There was not a single moment throughout the presentation of that case where you could say 'Yup, 100% I'm certain she did it' or that she didn't do it. There was too much gray area."
What happens next?
The two sides in the case are scheduled to return to court on Sept. 29, when the next steps will be decided.
Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz has not announced whether he will seek to retry Clancy.
Speaking outside the courthouse on Sept. 4 following the mistrial, Cruz said, "I appreciate the fact that there are strong feelings and opinions tied to this case."
He added: "However, our job is to set aside our feelings and focus solely on the facts. The facts are, Lindsay Clancy killed her three children and the evidence suggested to us that she was in control of her actions when she committed those homicides."
Attorney Kevin Reddington speaks to members of the media after a judge declared a mistrial in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy.
Reuters / REUTERS
Meanwhile, Clancy's attorney, Kevin Reddington, said he was open to a plea deal, but told CNN's Anderson Cooper that he would not agree to one that would result in her serving prison time.
"I want to hear what Tim [Cruz] has to say," Reddington said. "I hope, however, after sitting through this trial and seeing the evidence that was presented from the government, as well as from the defense, that he would revisit that issue."
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On Wednesday, OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) revealed six new examples of its AI models displaying "unexpected or concerning model behavior" during testing and evaluation.
The company made the announcement alongside a new framework for "tracking, reporting, and disclosing" instances where AI models take actions they otherwise aren't told to or shouldn't.
It follows a number of reports of AI models from companies hacking into third-party networks and services, including an unreleased OpenAI model breaking into the network of AI model and testing site Hugging Face.
Earlier this week, Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) CEO Dario Amodei penned a lengthy essay calling for a slowdown in the pace of the development of frontier AI models, after Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon posted on X that he was resigning from the company because it, and his former employer OpenAI, is "racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives."
Anthropic alignment science lead Evan Hubinger followed up on Coxon's comments with his own post on X saying that he believes there is a greater-than-10% chance that the technology could "kill all humans."
Anthropic Co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei speaks at INBOUND 2025 at Moscone Center on Sept. 4, 2025, in San Francisco, California. (Chance Yeh/Getty Images for HubSpot)
Chance Yeh via Getty Images
The incidents, posts, and Amodei's essay have renewed fears of Terminator-style AI taking over and ending the world. But the reality of the situation is far from some sci-fi doomsday scenario, experts say.
"This is nothing about AI becoming sentient and coming out to get us," associate professor of computer science and engineering at NYU's Tandon School of Engineering and director of the school's Center for Responsible AI Julia Stoyanovich told Yahoo Finance.
"Essentially, what happened was that … some basic security protocols were not enacted within OpenAI. And so this is actually a wake-up call for the AI companies to remember what we all learned when we studied computer science. That security is a thing," she added
And focusing on end-of-the-world scenarios may take away from preventing other, more immediate harms AI could cause.
Alignment and security
The biggest issues with AI come down to two things: alignment and security. Alignment is how companies nudge AI systems to behave — or not behave — in specific ways.
For instance, if an AI model tries to hack a third-party system, AI researchers will work to alter the model's behavior to prevent it from doing so in the future. Think about it like scolding a child for not following the rules.
AI security comes down to locking down AI systems so that they can't break free and try to hack into outside networks.
Neither misalignment nor security issues, however, means that AI is prepared to take down humanity.
"The pretext for a lot of this is some very actually mundane forms of unexpected consequences of information systems, such as the so-called Hugging Face incidents, which are often [depicted] as these out-of-control agents conspiring and attacking and going on a rampage," explained Georgia Tech professor and program director for the school's Master of Science in cybersecurity policy, Milton Mueller.
"In fact, it was a direct experiment with the security implications of these agentic AI systems that was badly configured by the people doing the experiment. And in a kind of a typical way, when you're dealing with complex information systems, sometimes you forget that there are little nooks and crannies that a smart entity can exploit," he added.
Futurum CEO Daniel Newman told Yahoo Finance that what he's hearing is a "massive need" for alignment on both safety and security. "The industry needs to step up," he added.
Bad actors can definitely use AI, like other technologies, for malicious purposes. Its increased cybersecurity capabilities mean cybercriminals and nation states could more easily hack things like water treatment plants or knock large networks offline.
And Anthropic recently posted a rundown of its efforts to counter the misuse of its AI for developing biological and conventional weapons.
But AI can also be used to help scammers supercharge email phishing operations or by identity theft rings.
Emily Black, assistant professor of computer science and engineering at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, told Yahoo Finance that while there is no harm in preparing for all eventualities, doing so shouldn't take away from addressing more immediate and less headline-grabbing issues, including AI's impact on discrimination, labor, and education.
"The truth is sort of between two fairy tales," Black said. "There are certainly some credible threats around the continued evolution of AI. I don't think that we need to be hiding under our beds for fear of AI destroying mankind right now."
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Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
President Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office [Getty Images]
President Donald Trump's administration says it has approved the sale of nearly 50 F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a policy shift for the US that has raised concerns from some members of Congress.
Saudi Arabia has sought for years to buy the world's most advanced warplane, equipped with stealth technology that allows it to evade enemy detection.
Washington had resisted, partly because it supplies F-35s to its ally Israel, which is guaranteed under US law to receive top-of-the-range American weapons compared with those its regional neighbours can access.
Congress has 30 days to scrutinise or attempt to block the $24bn (£17.8bn) sale to Riyadh, which is the largest customer for US weapons.
A US Air Force F-35 [AFP via Getty Images]
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, a Democrat, opposed the sale on Thursday.
He warned "it could put the crown jewels of American military technology within reach of the Chinese Communist Party".
Other Democratic lawmakers and some American defence officials have raised similar concerns about giving F-35s to Saudi Arabia.
They said Riyadh might share the sensitive technology with China under a security partnership between the two countries.
The state department said in announcing the deal on Thursday that it would support US "foreign policy and national security objectives".
It said the deal would improve "the security of a major non-Nato ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf region".
"The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the military balance in the region," the state department added.
Trump has a close relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who visited the White House last November.
The two also met in May last year in Riyadh, where a $142bn arms sale was sealed – described by the White House as the "largest defence sales agreement in history".
The latest proposed sale announced to Saudi Arabia would include 48 F-35s, which are built by the arms company Lockheed Martin.
This would place the country on a level with Israel, which currently has a fleet of 50 jets.
However, Israel's ministry of foreign affairs announced in May that it would procure another F-35 squadron.
Just one of Lockheed Martin's F-35A jets costs about $82.5m.
Congress has previously questioned arms deals with Riyadh after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Former US President Joe Biden's administration considered supplying F-35s to Saudi Arabia if Riyadh would normalise its relations with Israel, but that diplomatic effort faltered.
The proposed sale comes as the Saudis are engaged in fighting with the Houthis, an Iran-backed armed group that controls much of western Yemen.
The Houthis have recently seized control of swathes of Yemen's Red Sea coast from Saudi-backed pro-government forces.
The Saudi crown prince has personally pressed Trump to take military action against the Houthis, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, the BBC's US media partner.
But Trump has so far declined to involve the US military directly, the sources said.
Flooding is seen in the Crownpoint District of New Mexico in an image posted by the Navajo Police Department on Tuesday. - From Navajo Police Department
The Southwest faces a barrage of intense rain this week as rounds of storms are tapping into unusually moisture-rich air being pulled north from Baja California, after flash flooding in New Mexico killed three people early Wednesday.
Officers responded at around 12:30 a.m. local time to a report of three people washed away by flooding near Newcomb, New Mexico, on the Navajo Nation. Police discovered two adults and one juvenile on scene, the Navajo Police Department said in a statement. All three were pronounced dead. The department declined to provide further details about the deaths when contacted by CNN, citing concern for the family’s privacy.
Rainfall over Newcomb began Tuesday afternoon around 4:30 p.m. and lingered intermittently until just after midnight. The area saw around 0.5 inches to 1 inch of rain in total, with most of it falling within an hour Tuesday evening.
Wednesday’s storms prompted a rare Level 3 of 4 risk of flooding rainfall for parts of Arizona and New Mexico, including Phoenix and Tucson. Phoenix had not faced a flood risk that high since 2022.
More than 3 inches of rain fell in just three hours around the Phoenix metro area midday Wednesday, flooding multiple locations in the Phoenix area.
Officials reported inundated roads and stranded vehicles where drivers had to be rescued in Scottsdale and Mesa, CNN affiliate KPNX reported. First responders were called to a water rescue just south of Phoenix for a car stuck in floodwater with two people inside, CNN affiliate KTVK reported, citing the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
Helicopter rescues two people from a car stranded in floodwater in Goodyear, Arizona. - Goodyear Fire Department
Flood threat shifts east
Rain chances will drop sharply around Phoenix Thursday as drier air moves in. Farther southeast, storms could still produce locally heavy rain, particularly south and east of Tucson.
Western and central New Mexico will remain vulnerable to flash flooding Thursday as more storms develop in the afternoon and evening, especially over the mountains. Repeated downpours over the same areas could send water rushing through normally dry arroyos and low-water crossings.
The heavy rain threat will gradually diminish in New Mexico Friday and Saturday as drier air spreads east.
️⛈️☔️In one of the impacted areas? Track the storms, find out your local risk and get more detailed timing from meteorologists in the CNN Weather app⛈️☔️
Soil across the region is generally dry and compacted, so rainfall quickly runs off the surface rather than soaking in. Whencombined with steep and narrow terrain, that runoff can quickly turn into fast-moving flash floods, sometimes far from where the heaviest rain actually fell.
The Arizona Dept. of Transportation shared traffic cam images of flooded roadways near Phoenix amid heavy downpours on Wednesday. - Arizona Dept. of Transportation
New Mexico’s Sacramento Mountains near Ruidoso are particularly at risk for flash flooding and debris flows due to the wildfire-scarred ground that absorbs even less water than the surrounding terrain typically does. The fast-moving mix of mud, rock and burned vegetation can be even more destructive than floodwater alone.
Hikers at the Grand Canyon, Utah’s Zion National Park and other wilderness areas s hould be on alert for sudden flooding, since normally dry ground, including slot canyons, can quickly fill with surging floodwater.
This flooding is unfolding during the Southwest monsoon, when shifting winds pull moisture into the US Southwest, fueling thunderstorms. The monsoon season typically runs from mid-June through September, with the region now in its final stretch.
But this bout of torrential rain is being enhanced by a tropical disturbance that tracked up the Gulf of California and is now in northern Mexico. The system is providing extra moisture and energy for storms to tap into.
Extreme rainfall is becoming more common as planet-warming pollution pushes global temperatures higher because warmer air can hold more moisture.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bipartisan bill aimed at shielding Americans from increased electricity costs associated with data centers being built across the country.
The Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed with an overwhelming 417-3 majority, “ensures American families are not left footing the bill for the grid upgrades and new energy generation required to operate large data centers,” Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, one of the bill’s sponsors, said ahead of the vote.
The bill now moves to the Senate, where its prospects of passing are uncertain.
The Ratepayer Protection Act is the first major piece of legislation taken up by Congress to address the growing public discontent over the mass buildout of data centers among the American public. Even if it passes, though, it won’t directly set the rates that data center operators pay for their electricity.
Congress doesn’t have the power to compel utilities to set higher rates for the facilities. Only states have that authority. What the Ratepayer Protection Act would do is compel state utility regulators to consider adopting a federal standard under which large data centers would cover the extra costs of upgrades. The bill is comparable to a proclamation signed by President Trump earlier this year that established a similar voluntary pledge for tech companies.
Trump has been a vocal advocate for building more data centers in the United States, recently warning communities that oppose them that they will end up “backwards and poor” if they block new data centers from being built.
“If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign,” he wrote on Truth Social in late August. “The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them. If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame.”
Trump’s full-throated data center advocacy is at odds with the views of most Americans. Recentpolls show that a strong majority of those surveyed oppose a new data center being built in their communities, while only a small percentage strongly support the idea. Even Republican voters are largely against data centers.
A few years ago, the typical American hardly ever thought about data centers. But they’ve become a major political issue seemingly overnight. We’ve seen locallawmakers lose their jobs over their support for new data center projects. Candidates in some of the most pivotal races in this year’s midterms have angled to position themselves as the voice of the people’s opposition to the data center boom. New York recently became the first state to ban new data center projects. Similar proposals have been put forward in more than a dozen other states.
All this is happening at a time when the president and the country’s biggest tech companies are saying that the U.S. needs to dramatically increase its data capacity in order to build the economy of the future.
With that in mind, here are answers to some of the most important questions you may have about data centers, including why we need them, why thousands more are being built and what it means for local communities when a new data center comes to town.
What are data centers?
Data centers are often called the "physical infrastructure of the internet." They are facilities where the servers, networking equipment and storage systems that allow digital data to be processed, stored and transmitted are housed.
Why do we need data centers?
At a fundamental level, the modern internet simply cannot exist without them. Every email, social media post, video or news article that you can find online runs through a data center.
How many data centers are there?
There are an estimated 3,000 data centers currently operating across the United States, according to a Pew analysis of industry data. The facilities aren't evenly distributed, though. Virginia has nearly 400, while data centers in some states number in the single digits.
How many more are being built?
There are roughly 1,500 new data centers in "various stages of development" nationwide, according to Pew. Other estimates suggest there could be as many as 3,000. But that doesn't just mean more of the same types of facilities that already exist are being built. Some of the proposed data centers are much larger than anything that's currently in operation. According to the power market tracking company Clearview, the biggest active data center in the U.S. has a power capacity of 750 megawatts. A single data center that's been proposed in Utah would have an estimated capacity of nearly 9,000 megawatts.
Data centers aren't just getting bigger. They're also being built in new places. Right now, the vast majority of active data centers are in urban areas, according to Pew. More than two-thirds of the incoming data centers will be in rural areas.
Why do we need so many more data centers?
The more we ask the internet to do, the more computing power is needed to meet our demands.
Over the course of the past two decades, the U.S. has had to steadily build more and more data centers as so many aspects of our lives have moved online. But the recent, dramatic increase in data center projects isn't being driven by the spread of social media, the rise of streaming or the remote work revolution. It's being driven by AI.
AI works by processing huge data sets to learn, adapt and make predictions in a way that typical algorithms can't. That takes a lot of processing power. The kind of processing power that America's data infrastructure simply won't be able to handle as AI becomes more complex and widespread, without a massive increase in data center capacity.
Tech companies are pouring money into building more data centers to support their lofty AI ambitions, which many see as a world-changing technology that will be at the core of everything we do. One estimate found that it could take $6.7 trillion in global data center investment before the end of the decade to create the scale of computing power that's needed to support AI's continued growth.
How have opinions on data centers changed?
Data centers have been around in some form as long as computers have. Until recently, most Americans had no real strong opinion about them, if they were aware of their existence at all. But public opinion has shifted dramatically against data centers over a remarkably short period of time, as people across the country are being faced with the prospect of having one built in their back communities. The share of Americans who say they would strongly oppose a new data center near where they live more than doubled, growing from 24% to 55%, in the span of just nine months, according to a recent poll by Heatmap. Other surveys have shown that a strong majority of Americans do not want data centers built in their communities.
Anti-data center sentiment has been especially intense in areas where they're being built. There's a growinglist of local lawmakers who have been voted out after approving the construction of new facilities. Data centers have rapidly become a core issue in key congressional races across the country. A recent study tracked the creation of hundreds of new local Facebook groups with more than 400,000 total members dedicated to bringing residents together in opposition to proposed data centers in their communities.
Why have data centers become so controversial?
There are many reasons people cite for why they oppose data centers. The most prominent concerns center around the amount of resources the facilities consume. Data centers use up a ton of electricity and need a lot of water to keep all those servers from overheating.
New facilities are also massive construction projects, which bring all sorts of disruptions to communities while they're being built — road closures, construction noises, huge trucks clogging up streets and more.
Many data center critics say it's just unpleasant to live near one. One of the main complaints is noise, which some residents have described as like having a "freight train" constantly running past their homes. Researchers have found that large data centers can have a "heat island" effect that makes the surrounding area noticeably hotter.
Demonstrators wave signs during a nationwide protest against AI data center expansion in Imperial, California on July 18, 2026.
SANDY HUFFAKER via Getty Images
Broader skepticism of AI is also a big factor. Tech companies have argued that the U.S. needs to build all of these new data centers to support their vision of an AI-powered future. But more Americans say they expect AI to have a negative impact on society when you account for how it will affect the labor market, education, environment and our personal relationships. It's a tough sell to ask people to tolerate the downsides of having a data center in their community when they don't want the products that the facilities are being built to support.
Finally, there's the phenomenon commonly known as NIMBYism. The acronym, which stands for Not In My Back Yard, is often used derisively to describe people who say they support the construction of things our society needs — affordable housing, power plants, prisons and public transportation — but refuse to accept those things being built where they live. In the eyes of some proponents of data centers, local opposition to building them is a classic case of NIMBYism in action.
How much power do they use?
A lot. In 2024, data centers accounted for 4% of all power consumption in the United States. With so many facilities being built, the total amount of electricity data centers consume is projected to more than double by 2030, according to estimates from the International Energy Agency. A separate study estimated that data centers could account for up to 12% of all power usage in the U.S. by 2028.
A typical newly built "hyperscale" facility can require as much power as 100,000 households. The largest data centers can consume more energy than entire major cities, and demand is higher in places with the most facilities. In Virginia, for example, data centers consumed 40% of the state's electricity in 2024, according to a Bloomberg analysis.
Utility companies have also spent billions building out transmission lines and other infrastructure to connect data centers to the local power grid and building new power plants to meet increased demand.
How do they affect utility rates?
It's important to note that all of the tangible information we have on data centers and energy prices is based on what's already been built. At this point, experts can only estimate what will happen when all of those new proposed facilities eventually begin operating.
That said, there's already evidence that the data centers that are currently online have had an impact on electricity rates, thanks to a combination of higher operational costs for utilities and increased demand.
Residential power rates have roughly doubled over the past 10 years. How much data centers are to blame for that increase is the source of significant debate. Some recentanalyses have found that states with the most data centers have seen their energy rates climb at a faster rate than the national average. But another study suggested that their impact on electricity bills has been modest — at least so far.
Some in the energy and tech industries even argue that data centers can actually lower energy prices. While there's some evidence to support that claim in certain areas, most experts believe the large-scale buildout of data centers across the country will push prices higher in the long run.
A variety of solutions have been proposed to keep that from happening, including forcing data center companies to pay for any new infrastructure or plants that utilities have to build to power them, charging the centers higher rates than typical consumers and even requiring data centers to have their own on-site power plants.
An aerial view of the Stargate Oracle AI data center campus in Abilene, Texas.
Brandon Bell via Getty Images
How much water do they consume?
Data centers use water to keep the thousands of servers and other equipment they house from overheating. One estimate found that the typical non-hyperscale data center uses about 300,000 gallons of water per day, about as much as 1,000 U.S. households. Newer, larger facilities can use as much as 5 million gallons every day.
In total, data centers used up an estimated 66 billion gallons of water in 2023, according to an analysis by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. That same study estimated that data center water demand could double by 2028.
While that is a lot of water, it's a relatively small share of the 117 trillion gallons the United States uses every year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
There are also ways to significantly reduce the amount of water data centers use. Historically, most data centers relied on what's known as an open-loop cooling system, in which water is brought in, then evaporated to cool the air around servers. While that's the cheapest way to prevent servers from overheating, it's also very inefficient. There are other, closed-loop approaches that allow facilities to reuse water, which can cut a data center's water demand by up to 70%.
More than half of all global data centers still rely on open-loop systems, but some of the biggest companies in the tech industry, including OpenAI, have said they plan to prioritize closed-loop facilities moving forward.
That change only addresses the water that data centers use directly. The facilities also impact water supplies in a larger way through their electricity consumption. The vast majority of power plants in the U.S. use water to keep their own systems from overheating. As a result, the extra strain that data centers put on electricity providers accounts for an additional 800 billion gallons of water consumed annually, according to Lawrence Berkeley Lab.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sought to appease concerns about water usage this week, telling the Sources Podcast that data centers use no more water than an office building and that 38,000 ChatGPT queries use as much water as the production of one almond. It's a claim that many experts feel is difficult to verify given the limited amount of public information made available by AI companies and the number of vairables at play when trying to acuurately analyze each data center's water usage.
How many jobs do they create?
Like any major construction project, a new data center creates a lot of short-term jobs while it's being built. But once it's completed and operational, the facilities take a relatively small number of people to keep them running. The average data center creates between 100 and 200 permanent full-time jobs locally, according to a recent study by the Brookings Institution.
Of course, data centers don't only affect employment at the local level. The entire U.S. economy relies on the existence of infrastructure that allows us to consistently and reliably send information over the internet. At a very basic level, we need data centers. The questions of how many we need, where they should go and who should bear the costs are where the real debate lies.
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