Cybersecurity & Tech

Lawfare Daily: A Trip Through Pennsylvania’s Nascent AI Data Center Industry

Tyler McBrien, Maia Woluchem, Livia Garofalo, Joan Mukogosi, Jen Patja
Thursday, September 18, 2025, 7:00 AM
What are the current and future impacts of the AI data center industry in Pennsylvania?

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On today’s episode, Lawfare Managing Editor Tyler McBrien sits down with with Maia Woluchem, the Director of Data & Society’s Trustworthy Infrastructures program, along with one of the program’s researchers, Livia Garofalo, and Joan Mukogosi, an affiliate with the program and a PhD candidate at the London School of Economics. They discuss their recent research trips across Pennsylvania, where they learned about the state’s industrial histories and futures, as well as the immediate and potential future impacts of the nascent AI data center industry.

Read more on the work of Data & Society’s Trustworthy Infrastructures program here: 

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Tyler McBrien is the managing editor of Lawfare. He previously worked as an editor with the Council on Foreign Relations and a Princeton in Africa Fellow with Equal Education in South Africa, and holds an MA in international relations from the University of Chicago.
Maia Woluchem is the Director of Data & Society’s Trustworthy Infrastructures program.
Livia Garofalo is a researcher with Data & Society’s Trustworthy Infrastructures team, where she focuses on technologies and infrastructures of healthcare.
Joan Mukogosi is a research analyst on the Director of Data & Society’s Trustworthy Infrastructures program, and a PhD candidate at the London School of Economics.
Jen Patja is the editor of the Lawfare Podcast and Rational Security, and serves as Lawfare’s Director of Audience Engagement. Previously, she was Co-Executive Director of Virginia Civics and Deputy Director of the Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier, where she worked to deepen public understanding of constitutional democracy and inspire meaningful civic participation.
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