10/02/2026
Hello Everyone, the conversation about AI is complicated and moving very fast, and we are seeking to respond to a variety of questions here about the Alabama AI Accelerator, so we ask for patience as we begin to do so. This post, as a result, is a little long.
1. The E-Center is a nonprofit economic development organization which supports entrepreneurs and people who hope to start a business.
2. We respect and understand the very real concerns most people have about AI – including concerns which have been expressed even by people who work for AI companies. Those concerns are real and valid. We share many of them.
3. We are working to make AI a source of opportunity, not uncertainty, for the public. Our mission will be to help promising AI companies grow – and also to develop tools which all current Alabama residents can use to start and grow their own companies using AI. The number of one-person, million-dollar companies has doubled in this country in the past several years. We’d like to see that happen for you, especially with all the uncertainty surrounding jobs. This initiative is an effort to respond to concerns we’ve heard – it is because of those very concerns that we are doing this.
4. This is not a data center. It is absolutely true you need data centers to have AI, just as you need them to post comments on social media, but this effort is not a data center. It’s just not. It is an effort to create opportunities for our residents so they have a chance to benefit from AI.
5. At the end of the day, we think it is better to do everything we can to make AI a source of opportunity for people than to do nothing and hope things just work for out for everyone. That’s too big of a risk to take with peoples’ futures.
We are thankful for the excitement we have heard from many people who see this initiative as a way to improve their own futures. At the same time, we want to be sure to address any questions or concerns as the conversation progresses. We all have a stake in this discussion, and peoples’ voices deserve to be heard on this critical issue which is impacting all of our lives in so many ways, so quickly.
