Virginians emerge as some of America's biggest AI users
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Virginians are among the nation's heaviest users of artificial intelligence, according to a new report from Anthropic.
The big picture: The state's rapid embrace of AI is colliding with mounting resident pushback against the data centers powering that growth.
Driving the news: Usage of Claude in Virginia — Anthropic's AI platform — is 1.57 times higher than expected, based on its percentage of the country's working-age population, the report released last week found.
- That puts the state at No. 5 in the country for per capita AI use.
- D.C. takes the No. 1 spot, followed by Utah, California and New York.
Zoom in: The Anthropic report shows Virginians are most commonly using it for help with academic research, writing and educational content, editing content and documents, and fixing software code errors.
The intrigue: Virginians are also using it to help with K-12 teaching resources and to provide medical guidance.
The workers behind these tasks include software developers, office clerks, clinical psychologists and librarians.
State of play: While the AI explosion shows no signs of slowing down, the Richmond area is becoming the fastest-growing data center market in the nation.
- And with that has come growing opposition from residents and local leaders over environmental effects and higher energy costs.
- Many analysts point to power-hungry AI data centers as a driver of rising rates, especially in data center hot spots, reports Axios' Ben Geman.
What we're watching: State and local officials said at an Axios roundtable in Richmond this month that concerns over potential hikes in electric bills could spill into the election, especially at a time when cost of living is top of voters' minds.
- "This is the first time I've really seen energy as part of the conversation during election season," said Glenn Davis, a former state lawmaker and director of Virginia's Department of Energy.
The bottom line: As long as AI is around, Virginians are both going to use and complain about it.