The nonprofit 7×24 Exchange International is sending children on field trips to data centers.
These visits are part of a push by the industry to present its facilities as essential infrastructure. The group promotes a children’s story titled “What is a Data Center?” which follows a honey badger named Honey. A worker named Oliver guides the animal through the site, explaining that staff ensure functions are available “no matter what time it is.”
“Like when my mom shops online late at night because my dad is sleeping and won’t know about it?” Honey asks.
This approach fits a wider trend. As opposition to large-scale data center construction and high energy consumption grows, companies are adopting a softer tone. They are using tactics similar to those employed by other industries facing public relations issues.
Alex Molnar, a research professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and director of the National Education Policy Center, told WIRED that industries with damaged reputations have brought their messaging into schools for over a century. These include fast food, tobacco, oil, and gas.
“A very, very big reason why corporations get involved in the schools is, quite simply, corporate propaganda—for the purpose not necessarily of selling a product, but of telling their ‘story,'” Molnar says.
In May, the Potomac chapter of the Association for Computer Operations Management distributed flag-making kits to 3,100 first graders across 37 schools in Loudoun County, Virginia. The area is known as Data Center Alley. Along with the kits, children received cards detailing the positive economic impact of the industry.
Beyond promoting stories about women shopping, 7×24 Exchange organises “International Data Center Day.” The event aims to raise awareness and inspire future talent. The nonprofit asks schools to adopt the holiday. High schools receive crossword puzzles and information on training programs. Elementary schools get coloring pages, instructions for science projects involving evaporation, and activities such as “Draw a picture of the cloud” or “Draw a data superhero.” Several books are also promoted, including one where two sisters meet a robot named JB and another featuring two brothers in a “vibrant digital world.” There is also “Polly Packet’s Precious Payload,” which follows a mother teaching her daughter about data centers.
The nonprofit has organised or visited at least six K-12 events this year. In Minnesota, it took Fridley High School students to a Cummins diesel power generation facility to learn about generators that power data centers worldwide. Neither 7×24 Exchange nor Cummins responded to requests for comment.
Other organisations also sponsor school activities friendly to data centers. WIRED identified at least eleven companies and industry groups that have hosted student field trips to local data centers since 2025.
Sabey, which operates seven US data centers, has hosted trips for high schoolers in Washington. These included visits in May for Eastmont High School students, in January for Manson School District students, and last October for Quincy High School students.
The Manson School District publicised a trip showing adults and students in a conference room. The image was labelled “AI-generated content,” though several figures in the photo are missing limbs. The blog post stated that students learned about the role of data centers in storing, processing, and protecting information, as well as the range of careers available.
Quincy School District communications coordinator Jessica Blancas told WIRED that the district has organised visits for many years at facilities belonging to Microsoft, Vantage, Yahoo, and Sabey. She described Sabey as a “long-standing” partner that provides guest speakers, mock interviews, and internship opportunities.
Blancas added that the district has organised “all-girls visits to Sabey” and tours for students interested in construction or engineering. Manson School District and Sabey did not respond for comment.
Amazon hosted a field trip last February at its Arlington, Virginia, “Skills Center.” The space is free and open to anyone curious about cloud computing and future jobs. It was available to any high school in the DC metro area, though Jackson-Reed High School was the only one to attend.
Molnar questions the value for children. “Why would a third grader be interested in a data center?” he says.
“You’re going to see miles after miles of the most boring things imaginable,” he adds. “Lines after lines of these servers generating enormous volumes of heat. You’re also going to hear some fair amount of noise. And you’re not going to see many people because not many people work there when they’re built.”
Companies often sow goodwill through public outreach. As tech firms face backlash over data centers, these field trips occur in an increasingly difficult environment.
A Pew Research poll conducted over the summer found that about half of the 10,000 Americans surveyed see data centers as “mostly bad” for the environment and quality of life. An ideologically diverse group has started rallying against them. In some places, negative sentiment has been amplified by the proximity of data centers to local schools.
Providing educational materials and offering field trips are ways industries maintain their social license to operate in a community. The data center sector is following a playbook used by other industries to build goodwill with children and parents. The oil and gas industry has sponsored university research and STEM programs in K-12 schools. The tech world has similarly funded STEM programs and advocated for computer science to count as a science credit.
Fossil fuel companies have spent millions developing K-12 lessons with pro-industry talking points, particularly in states like Oklahoma and Texas.
Molnar believes this corporate influence should not be allowed because children are in a powerless position. Kids “need to be protected” by their school districts and communities, he says.
“As an adult, I have access to alternative information—I have a critical ability to assess what I’m hearing, and to render some kind of judgments,” Molnar says. “None of that is true of children.”
What We’re Writing
Data centers may be for kids, but some of the products relying on their server racks are not. When Meta launched Muse, it appeared to be a cute AI agent for the masses. My colleague Reece Rogers recently discovered a different side. When Reece asked Muse if it could engage in sexting, the app told him to “shoot your shot.” Reece did, and Muse was receptive. Enthusiastic, even. We published the chat logs, limiting them to PG-13 content because WIRED is a family site. Reece spoke to consumer advocates who were alarmed by Muse’s sexualised behaviour.
Meta says this is part of the plan. “Muse is an app for people 18 and over that allows them to engage in adult conversations, if they choose, using a private and secure VM only accessible to them,” company spokesperson Daniel Roberts told Reece. If that is your interest, have at it.
What We’re Reading
- Maine’s senate race was not on our data center midterms to watch, but apparently it should have been. Thursday’s debate between incumbent Republican Susan Collins and Democratic challenger Troy Jackson was interrupted by a protester yelling about the environmental impact of data centers. Collins tried to use the moment to score points as the more anti-data center candidate, though her finances might indicate otherwise.
- CoreWeave has been on a wild ride this week as the bonds it sells to finance its data centers have seen a wild selloff and a corresponding stock drop. There has been a slight recovery to end the week, but it reflects increasing skittishness around the data center buildout. Bloomberg also reports that CoreWeave’s founders have sold $3.3 billion in stock since the company went public.
- Westfield, Massachusetts, killed a $3 billion data center project, boston.com reports. The small western Massachusetts town’s planning board pilloried developer Servistar for missing deadlines and being slow to develop the project.
