Erin Brockovich has spent more than three decades asking uncomfortable questions of powerful institutions. Now, the legendary environmental activist and consumer advocate whose real-life fight against corporate pollution inspired the Academy Award-winning film Erin Brockovich has turned her attention to one of the fastest-growing issues in technology: the enormous data centers powering the artificial intelligence revolution. As companies race to expand AI infrastructure across the United States, Brockovich is raising questions about what these massive facilities could mean for local water supplies, electricity demand, utility costs, land use and the communities where they are being built. Her latest campaign has attracted national media attention, including recent interviews with The Independent and The New Yorker Radio Hour, and once again places Brockovich at the intersection of corporate accountability, environmental protection and grassroots activism.
Quick Answer: Why Is Erin Brockovich Investigating AI Data Centers?
Environmental activist Erin Brockovich is investigating the rapid expansion of AI data centers after receiving a surge of messages from communities concerned about new facilities being built near them. She has since created a nationwide mapping project documenting data centers and community concerns involving water use, electricity demand, noise, land development and transparency. Her message is not opposition to artificial intelligence itself; rather, she is calling for communities to have more information and a meaningful voice in decisions that could affect their resources and quality of life.
Who Is Erin Brockovich?
Long before artificial intelligence became part of the national conversation, Erin Brockovich had become one of America’s most recognizable environmental and consumer advocates. While working as a legal clerk, she played a pivotal role in investigating groundwater contamination in Hinkley, California, linked to Pacific Gas & Electric Company, helping build the case that ultimately resulted in a landmark $333 million settlement for residents. Her persistence, unconventional approach and willingness to challenge a powerful corporation captured national attention and inspired the 2000 film Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal. But Brockovich’s advocacy did not end with the case that made her famous. For more than three decades, she has continued working with communities confronting water contamination and environmental concerns while advocating for greater corporate accountability and transparency. As an author, activist and keynote speaker, she has become an internationally recognized voice for environmental responsibility, consumer advocacy and personal empowerment, demonstrating throughout her career how determined individuals can challenge powerful institutions and create meaningful change.
Why Erin Brockovich Is Turning Her Attention to AI Data Centers
Brockovich’s latest campaign grew out of something familiar: people began contacting her because they were concerned about what was happening in their own communities. As AI data centers expanded across the country, she began hearing from residents with questions about water use, electricity consumption, persistent noise, rising utility costs, loss of farmland and the environmental effects of large-scale development. According to The New Yorker, the volume of these messages prompted Brockovich to begin gathering information and eventually launch a mapping project documenting data-center development and collecting reports directly from affected communities. The response quickly grew; in a September interview with The Independent, Brockovich said the project had received thousands of complaints from all 50 states, with concerns beginning to arrive from outside the United States as well. For Brockovich, the issue is not simply whether data centers should exist, but whether communities understand the potential consequences of these enormous projects and have a meaningful voice before decisions are made that could affect their resources, environment and quality of life.
Watch: Erin Brockovich Takes on Data Centers — The New Yorker Radio Hour
In a recent interview with David Remnick on The New Yorker Radio Hour, Erin Brockovich explains why the rapid expansion of AI data centers has become a major focus of her environmental advocacy. She discusses the thousands of reports her data-center mapping project has received from communities across the country, including concerns about heavy water and electricity use, rising utility costs, persistent noise, loss of farmland and natural areas, and a lack of transparency surrounding some developments. Brockovich also draws parallels to the community advocacy that has defined her work for more than 30 years, emphasizing that her concern is not about stopping AI but ensuring that technological progress does not come at the expense of local resources and the people who depend on them. The New Yorker
Artificial intelligence can seem almost intangible. We type a question into a computer or phone and receive an answer seconds later, with little thought about the enormous physical infrastructure working behind the scenes. AI systems depend on vast data centers filled with powerful servers that require substantial amounts of electricity and, in many cases, significant quantities of water for cooling. As generative AI expands, its growth is becoming about much more than technology—it is increasingly connected to energy, water resources, land use, infrastructure, sustainability and community planning. Those are precisely the kinds of issues that have defined much of Brockovich’s career. In a June interview with Amanpour & Company, she discussed concerns surrounding data-center water consumption, persistent noise and the effects these massive facilities can have on neighboring communities, while emphasizing the need for greater transparency about their potential impact.
What Concerns Is Erin Brockovich Raising About Data Centers?
Brockovich’s current campaign reflects concerns she says she is hearing from communities where data centers are being proposed or constructed. Residents have raised questions about the amount of water these facilities may consume, their growing demand for electricity and whether that demand could contribute to higher utility costs. Others are concerned about persistent noise, changes in zoning and land use, development on farmland and natural areas, and the broader environmental effects of large-scale construction. Running through many of these concerns is a common question: whether communities are receiving enough information and having a meaningful opportunity to participate in decisions before major projects move forward. Importantly, Brockovich has made it clear that she is not opposed to artificial intelligence itself. In her recent interview with The Independent, she acknowledged that AI is already part of everyday life and discussed using the technology herself. Her concern is instead focused on the extraordinary speed and scale at which the infrastructure supporting AI is being developed and whether its effects on natural resources and surrounding communities are receiving enough consideration. That distinction makes her campaign especially relevant to business leaders. The larger question is not simply whether society should embrace AI, but how companies can pursue technological innovation while remaining responsible for the real-world resources, infrastructure and communities that make that innovation possible.
Watch: Erin Brockovich Is Taking On a New Issue: AI Data Centers — Amanpour & Company
In this Amanpour & Company interview, Erin Brockovich speaks with Hari Sreenivasan about why AI data centers have become the focus of her latest environmental campaign. Brockovich discusses the reports her crowdsourced mapping project has received from communities across the country and describes concerns involving water supplies, electricity demand, rising utility costs, persistent noise and the strain large facilities may place on local resources. She also emphasizes a theme that has run throughout her decades of advocacy: communities want to know what is happening around them and have an opportunity to participate in decisions that may directly affect their lives. For Brockovich, the rapid growth of AI data centers is not simply a technology issue—it is also a question of transparency, accountability and how technological progress affects the people and resources behind it. PBS
A New Fight With Familiar Themes
AI data centers may seem far removed from the contaminated groundwater in Hinkley, California, that first brought Brockovich national attention, but her latest campaign contains many of the same themes that have shaped her work for more than three decades. Throughout her career, she has focused on what happens when residents believe decisions affecting their health, environment or communities are being made without sufficient transparency or accountability. The technology and industries may change, but questions about responsibility, trust and giving communities a voice remain remarkably familiar. That connection may help explain why Brockovich’s data-center activism is attracting national attention. The New Yorker Radio Hour devoted an August episode to her work, while The Independent examined her campaign in September as part of its environmental coverage. Her involvement also illustrates how quickly the conversation surrounding artificial intelligence is expanding beyond algorithms, productivity and automation. As AI becomes more deeply embedded in business and everyday life, the debate is increasingly likely to include the physical infrastructure required to support it—and the environmental and community consequences that can accompany that growth.
Why This Matters to Business Leaders
For corporate leaders, Brockovich’s latest campaign offers a broader lesson about innovation, responsibility and trust. Organizations are moving quickly to incorporate artificial intelligence into their products, services and operations, but technological transformation does not happen in isolation. Decisions involving infrastructure, energy, natural resources and local communities can affect stakeholders far beyond a company’s customers and shareholders. Brockovich’s work underscores the importance of transparency, community involvement and considering the unintended consequences of rapid technological growth. For executives navigating change, the challenge is not simply how quickly an organization can innovate, but how it can balance innovation with environmental responsibility, earn public trust and address potential impacts before they become sources of conflict. These issues extend well beyond data centers, making Brockovich’s message increasingly relevant to conversations about leadership, sustainability, corporate responsibility and organizational change across industries.
Erin Brockovich’s Message Has Always Been About the Power of One Person
Perhaps the most enduring part of Erin Brockovich’s story isn’t the lawsuit, the movie or any single environmental campaign, but her belief that ordinary people can create meaningful change. Brockovich had no formal legal education when she began investigating the Hinkley case; what she brought was persistence, curiosity and a willingness to listen when residents believed something was wrong. More than three decades later, those same qualities are driving her work surrounding AI data centers. When communities began contacting her with concerns, she listened, asked questions and created a way for people across the country to share their experiences. That connection between the determined advocate who challenged a powerful corporation in Hinkley and the activist examining the consequences of today’s AI infrastructure is what continues to make Erin Brockovich’s message relevant to audiences today.
From Hinkley to Artificial Intelligence, Erin Brockovich Is Still Asking Questions
More than 30 years after the investigation that made her famous, Erin Brockovich is still doing what she has always done: listening to communities, following the information and asking questions when she believes people deserve answers. This time, the issue isn’t chromium-6 contamination in a California town. It’s the infrastructure behind one of the most consequential technological transformations of our time. AI may be changing the world at extraordinary speed, but Brockovich’s message remains remarkably consistent: progress and accountability should go hand in hand. For organizations discussing leadership, sustainability, corporate responsibility, environmental issues or navigating change, her story provides something increasingly rare—a decades-long example of advocacy that continues to evolve alongside the issues shaping society today.
Book Erin Brockovich for Your Next Event
Erin Brockovich can be booked through Speakers.com for keynote presentations, corporate events, association conferences, leadership meetings, universities and other special events. As an environmental activist, best-selling author, consumer advocate and internationally recognized voice for corporate accountability, Brockovich brings audiences far more than the story that made her famous. Her continuing work on emerging issues—including the environmental and community questions surrounding the AI data-center boom—makes her perspective especially timely for organizations navigating rapid technological and societal change. Contact Speakers.com to check Erin Brockovich’s availability, current speaking fees and booking information for your upcoming event.