In February, shortly after making his feature-film debut(电影长片首秀) as a pen magnate in “Marty Supreme”, Kevin O’Leary announced that he would build one of the world’s biggest data-centre projects in Utah. The market shrugged(耸肩，表示不以为意). What did Mr O’Leary, who is best known for presenting “Shark Tank”, know about data centres?(奥利里以主持《创智赢家》闻名，他懂数据中心吗？) How would it be paid for? Or powered? One analyst dismissed the project as an example of “vapourware(雾件，指只宣传未实现的产品) gigawatts”.
今年2月，凯文·奥利里在电影《超级马蒂》中饰演钢笔大亨完成银幕首秀后不久，宣布将在犹他州建造全球最大的数据中心项目之一。市场对此不以为意。这位以主持《创智赢家》闻名的奥利里先生，对数据中心了解多少？资金从何而来？电力又如何解决？一位分析师将该计划斥为“雾件吉瓦”的典型例子。
But a joke in the marketplace became dynamite(炸药，比喻引起轰动的事物) in the town square(市政广场，指公共舆论场). In June J. Stuart Adams, president of the Utah Senate, who had initially supported Mr O’Leary’s venture(企业，风险项目), demanded that its size be reduced by three-quarters. Mr O’Leary accused his critics of working for China (he later withdrew that), but eventually agreed to scale back(缩减，缩小规模) his dreams. Even then Mr Adams, a long-serving Republican lawmaker, along with a pair of county commissioners, lost primary elections because of the scandal(丑闻).
但市场中的笑话在市政广场上成了炸药。6月，犹他州参议院议长J.斯图尔特·亚当斯最初支持奥利里的项目，后来却要求将其规模缩减四分之三。奥利里指责批评者为中国效力（他后来收回了这一说法），但最终同意缩减他的梦想。即便如此，长期担任共和党议员的亚当斯先生，连同两位县专员，还是因这一丑闻在初选中落败。
Data centres are a nightmare(噩梦，极其糟糕的事) of political economy. Voters see them as ugly, dirty, noisy and power-hungry bastions(堡垒，据点) of arrogant Silicon Valley companies. And—thanks to(多亏，由于) ChatGPT—it has never been easier to pen a letter to the planning department saying so. Yet the public has an awful lot riding on(依赖于，押注于) these windowless sheds, for the stock market is a one-way bet on them being built. Data centres are particularly disorientating(令人困惑的，迷失方向的) for Democrats, since unions tend to support the projects. If artificial intelligence is a class war, it pits a coalition of billionaires and electricians against the office droids both despise.(如果人工智能是阶级战争，它让亿万富翁和电工联盟对抗双方都鄙视的办公室机器人。)
数据中心是政治经济学的噩梦。选民视其为傲慢的硅谷公司丑陋、肮脏、嘈杂且耗电的堡垒。而且，多亏了ChatGPT，给规划部门写信表达不满从未如此容易。然而，公众在这些无窗棚屋上押注巨大，因为股市对它们的建设是一边倒的赌注。数据中心尤其让民主党人感到困惑，因为工会往往支持这些项目。如果人工智能是一场阶级战争，它让亿万富翁和电工的联盟对抗双方都鄙视的办公室机器人。
Stoppable force, movable object
可阻挡的力量，可移动的物体