https://uofm-ai.com/ Following the money behind the university's AI bets. Independent, not affiliated with any university. en-us Thu, 25 Jun 2026 13:14:29 +0000 https://uofm-ai.com/pages/now-we-know-dont-trust-uofm-the-ypsilanti-township-board-is-fighting-back.html https://uofm-ai.com/pages/now-we-know-dont-trust-uofm-the-ypsilanti-township-board-is-fighting-back.html Thu, 25 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000
On June 16, the Ypsilanti Township board made a promise to its residents and they are not letting the university build this without a fight.

The June 16 Ypsilanti Township board meeting ran three hours, and for most of it, a photo from the Oracle and OpenAI data center groundbreaking in Saline Township loomed on the wall behind the board: Governor Whitmer grinning next to...

read the full story | source: 404 Media]]> https://uofm-ai.com/pages/so-who-is-really-behind-project-peninsula.html https://uofm-ai.com/pages/so-who-is-really-behind-project-peninsula.html Mon, 22 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Residents across Kent County townships are forming opposition groups and demanding to know who "Project Peninsula" actually is.

Something strange is happening in the townships west of Grand Rapids. A retired farmer and a progressive environmentalist walked into the same meeting last month. So did a nurse and a libertarian. Data centers have a way of doing that. The...

read the full story | source: MLive]]> https://uofm-ai.com/pages/michigans-attorney-general-cant-see-the-contract-either.html https://uofm-ai.com/pages/michigans-attorney-general-cant-see-the-contract-either.html Sat, 20 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000 The state's top law enforcement officer has been trying to read a $16 billion utility contract since October however the commission that approved it still won't show her.

DTE Energy signed contracts in October to supply power to the Saline Township data center, the $16 billion Oracle project connected to Stephen Ross and the university's endowment. The Michigan Public Service Commission approved those...

read the full story | source: michigan.gov]]> https://uofm-ai.com/pages/lowell-township-wants-to-fire-the-officials-who-voted-for-microsoft.html https://uofm-ai.com/pages/lowell-township-wants-to-fire-the-officials-who-voted-for-microsoft.html Fri, 19 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Three township officials voted down a six-month pause on a Microsoft data center. The Kent County Elections Commission just cleared the way for residents to vote them out instead.

Microsoft wants to build a data center on 237 acres in Lowell Township, which is a small community about 20 miles outside Grand Rapids, MI. As many people know, these data centers draw enormous amounts of power and water, they run loudly...

read the full story | source: Wood TV]]> https://uofm-ai.com/pages/the-university-keeps-building-anyway.html https://uofm-ai.com/pages/the-university-keeps-building-anyway.html Thu, 18 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Twenty four hours before Ypsilanti's water utility voted on its own moratorium, a law firm representing the university told the board its vote would be illegal.

The university, along with and Los Alamos National Laboratory, want to put a $1.2 billion data center in Ypsilanti Township. The community has repeatedly said no for over a year, but the university does not seem to care. The university has...

read the full story | source: Planet Detroit]]> https://uofm-ai.com/pages/faculty-voted-for-an-ai-policy-but-the-university-didnt-answer.html https://uofm-ai.com/pages/faculty-voted-for-an-ai-policy-but-the-university-didnt-answer.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000 2,666 faculty voted to demand a university-wide AI policy. The administration's response: nothing.

The university's faculty senate passed a motion in November 2025 demanding a comprehensive policy on generative AI. In a vote that included 3,638 faculty members, 2,666 voted yes, 429 voted no. SACUA Chair Derek Peterson stated that...

read the full story | source: Michigan Daily]]> https://uofm-ai.com/pages/a-secret-75m-bet-on-sam-altman.html https://uofm-ai.com/pages/a-secret-75m-bet-on-sam-altman.html Fri, 12 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000 The university gave Sam Altman $75 million for his personal investment fund.

Back in 2023, Fortune reported that the university's $17.9 billion endowment (now worth $21.2 billion) quietly wrote a $75 million check (later increased to $180 million by 2024) to Hydrazine Capital, which just so ahppens to be Sam...

read the full story | source: Fortune]]> https://uofm-ai.com/pages/and-for-what-ai-slop-the-saline-barn.html https://uofm-ai.com/pages/and-for-what-ai-slop-the-saline-barn.html Fri, 12 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Saline Township residents are just trying to get through a township meeting without death threats.

Recently, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman visited the construction site of a $16 billion hyperscale data center in Saline Township on Monday. He was joined by executives from Oracle, Michigan Governor Whitmer, and barn-shaped soap dispensers (to...

read the full story | source: Detroit News]]> https://uofm-ai.com/pages/the-ypsilanti-township-data-center.html https://uofm-ai.com/pages/the-ypsilanti-township-data-center.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000 The university continues to expand at Ypsilanti's expense

The university is has purchased 124 acres in Ypsilanti Township as a possible site for a planned high-performance computational research facility in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (who were...

read the full story | source: Mlive]]> https://uofm-ai.com/pages/openai-investment.html https://uofm-ai.com/pages/openai-investment.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Endowment made a $20 million direct investment in OpenAI in one of its earliest funding rounds

Recent reports suggest that the university has made early investments in OpenAI that could turn into a substantial financial gain. Court documents from Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI indicate that the university invested approximately...

read the full story | source: Detroit News]]>