The conversation around AI is accelerating and evolving so quickly that it can be hard to keep up, and this conversation returned us to what it means for our communities on the ground. Across BEA’s network, we heard from grassroots partners about what’s shifting, where challenges are deepening, where opportunities are emerging, and where folks are seeing critical leverage points.
 
This conversation was built on the critical work grassroots partners are already leading around data centers and their impacts, while also looking at the larger conversation that frames it: about how power is being shaped in this moment and who gets to govern what comes next.

What rang loud and clear throughout the conversation was a shared demand that those on the frontlines of environmental harm and industrial expansion must have power over the decisions shaping their land, resources, and futures.