# AI News Digest - 2026-08-18

1. OpenAI signed a 20-year lease for an 8-gigawatt data center in Ohio, with Nvidia guaranteeing up to $105 billion for the facilities' residual value and becoming the exclusive chip supplier.

2. Anthropic applied a text watermark to Claude's outputs to enable detection of AI-generated content, prompting critics to question whether the watermarking affected word choice and to flag new transparency and legal challenges.

3. Flock announced platform changes intended to prevent officers from misusing its automatic license plate readers, including software to flag abnormal searches and a requirement to enter case numbers, while critics and some cities cited loopholes and canceled contracts amid a growing surveillance backlash.

4. Amazon purchased large quantities of printed books, scanned them for AI training data, and destroyed many of the originals during the process, according to reporting that exposed the practice.

5. U.S. political campaigns elevated AI and data centers as prominent topics, with AI appearing in nearly 40% of races and debates focusing on data-center impacts on electricity costs and local resources.

# References

1. [https://the-decoder.com/openai-signs-record-ohio-data-center-lease-with-nvidia-backing-up-to-105-billion/](https://the-decoder.com/openai-signs-record-ohio-data-center-lease-with-nvidia-backing-up-to-105-billion/)

[OpenAI signs record Ohio data center lease with Nvidia backing up to $105 billion](https://the-decoder.com/openai-signs-record-ohio-data-center-lease-with-nvidia-backing-up-to-105-billion/)

1. [https://the-decoder.com/anthropic-watermarks-claudes-output-but-critics-question-the-tradeoffs/](https://the-decoder.com/anthropic-watermarks-claudes-output-but-critics-question-the-tradeoffs/)

[Anthropic watermarks Claude's output, but critics question the tradeoffs](https://the-decoder.com/anthropic-watermarks-claudes-output-but-critics-question-the-tradeoffs/)

1. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/17/1142200/what-flocks-defenders-are-missing/](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/17/1142200/what-flocks-defenders-are-missing/)

[What Flock’s defenders are missing](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/17/1142200/what-flocks-defenders-are-missing/)

1. [https://the-decoder.com/airtag-reveals-how-amazon-destroys-rare-books-for-ai-training/](https://the-decoder.com/airtag-reveals-how-amazon-destroys-rare-books-for-ai-training/)

[AirTag reveals how Amazon destroys rare books for AI training](https://the-decoder.com/airtag-reveals-how-amazon-destroys-rare-books-for-ai-training/)

1. [https://the-decoder.com/ai-and-data-centers-have-leapfrogged-israel-racism-and-crypto-as-us-campaign-topics/](https://the-decoder.com/ai-and-data-centers-have-leapfrogged-israel-racism-and-crypto-as-us-campaign-topics/)

[AI and data centers have leapfrogged Israel, racism, and crypto as US campaign topics](https://the-decoder.com/ai-and-data-centers-have-leapfrogged-israel-racism-and-crypto-as-us-campaign-topics/)

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