D.C.'s latest viral party celebrates data centers amid growing pushback
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There's another fringe Partiful shindig happening this weekend in D.C., but this one is for *checks notes* … people who really love data centers?
Why it matters: Data After Dark: A Pro-Data Center Party is going down amid a nationwide pushback against data center construction.
State of play: The party, happening Saturday at PubKey — aka D.C.'s "crypto-bro clubhouse" — has 900 people approved to attend, co-organizer Jonas Du tells Axios.
- Du originally planned to just host the party at his Shaw rowhouse, but it went viral after organizers posted it online.
- Now it's sponsored by groups like the '76 Crew, the Manhattan Institute, the Bitcoin Policy Institute, and several AI companies, says Du.
What they're saying: The gathering is a response to the "bipartisan psychosis over data centers," says Du, a tech journalist at Pirate Wires.
- Du understands there are many risks and "potential downsides" associated with building data centers, but he thinks these problems are ultimately solvable and that data centers are integral to American innovation.
- "Nobody here wants to see communities harmed economically or physically because of data center construction, but we all want to support economic growth at the end of the day."
Zoom in: So, uh, what exactly happens at a data center party? "We just want to have a good time and celebrate American AI and American computing dominance," says Du. "I don't think it's too much deeper than that."
- Expect cocktails like a Loudoun County Iced Tea, a SMR-tini, and a Closed Loop Spritz, plus a photo booth that turns you into an AI image.
- Guests mostly include workers in tech and media, Congressional staffers and people associated with the Trump administration, says Du.
The intrigue: Du gets that it's a pretty hot take to host this kind of party in a city neighboring the data center wars battlefield that is Northern Virginia.
- And while he says the hosts have received some clap backs online calling it "a loser party," he discredits most of them as not "intellectually serious."
- "Honestly it's a competition between people who fear the unknown and people who believe in the potential of the unknown."
What we're watching: The group has heard from people who want to organize similar events in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, says Du.