The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is bringing sweeping changes, but privacy and environmental advocates are warning of the risks that come with it. 

Recently, President Donald Trump has rolled back former President Biden’s executive order on AI safety and oversight.

Critics, like the Sierra Club Michigan, argue this move weakens crucial safeguards regarding transparency, surveillance and environmental impact.

“There’s sweeping changes being made incredibly quickly, and I think that the rest of the country is struggling to even perceive what is happening right now,” said Christy McGillivray, legislative and political director for Sierra Club Michigan.

One major concern is the lessening of federal oversight of how AI is used to monitor civilians, according to McGillivray. 

“The Congressional Oversight Committee that monitored the federal government’s surveillance of Americans has been functionally hamstrung by the Trump administration,” she said. “And that is relevant to the conversation about the rollout of artificial intelligence and data centers, which is the actual material thing that builds artificial intelligence.”

AI data centers are massive facilities that provide the computing power for artificial intelligence. Companies like Microsoft, Meta, Google, and others are building these centers at an unprecedented pace, often without clear public disclosure about their locations, energy consumption, or environmental impact.

In Michigan, the debate over AI data centers is intensifying. Activists and environmental groups demand oversight of AI data centers ahead of new developments, such as Microsoft’s recent property acquisition in Kent County. According to McGillivray, St. Clair County residents are already organizing to resist data center construction in their communities.

“Folks in St. Clair County seem to not be particularly excited about it, so there are going to be interventions locally, at the local zoning decisions,” she said. 

Michigan could become a battleground for AI transparency, as environmental and civil liberties groups push for more public oversight. With AI advancing faster than the regulations meant to govern it, activists like McGillivray want lawmakers to act now.