About 25 residents turned out for Wednesday night’s Zimmer town hall meeting in Columbia on AI.
They turned out on a cold December night to hear from Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin (R-Shelbina) and from state Office of Administration (OA) director of AI and Innovation Tim Marczewski.
The controversial issue of data centers has divided residents in mid-Missouri’s Montgomery county, bringing hundreds of people to this week’s packed town meeting there. Senator O’Laughlin tells listeners that she has not been a vocal supporter of data center expansion but says data centers are here to stay. She also says residents in rural towns deserve to know details about proposed data centers, even if there is a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
Senator O’Laughlin says that AI will be a net benefit, in the end. Mr. Marczewski says AI will cause some job transformations. Senate President O’Laughlin and Marczewski joined “Wake Up Missouri” hosts Randy Tobler and Stephanie Bell on the program. You can listen to the full one-hour town hall here.