A nationwide backlash against artificial intelligence data centers has a new ally: the leopards of the Nashville Zoo.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The zoo, a popular destination in Tennessee’s capital city, is trying to block a proposed 69,000-square-foot data center from being built next door.The zoo says that the facility would be about 50 yards from some of its animals and that the noise could disturb its residents, including a leap of leopards that hail originally from Southeast Asia.“We are vehemently opposed to having a data center so close to animals,” said Rick Schwartz, the Nashville Zoo’s president and CEO, in a phone interview Friday.The zoo this week launched an online petition against the data center that, as of Friday, had more than 180,000 signatures and 25,000 shares on Facebook.
The petition asks city leaders to intervene to protect “one of the most fragile and rare collections of animals in the country.”Schwartz said he’s especially worried about noises from the data center affecting the breeding of clouded leopards, a vulnerable species that the zoo is working to conserve.Courtney Johnston, a member of the metropolitan council whose district includes the zoo, said she was being inundated by concerned residents.She said she had filed a zoning appeal and would ask the council to vote Tuesday on a data-center moratorium.“I’m getting phone calls.
I’m getting emails.All of my social media.
Text messages.The community is speaking,” she said.It’s the latest example of data centers getting pushback in communities nationwide, as neighbors say they don’t want to live near them or object more broadly to the direction of the tech and AI industries.
There’s been a bipartisan push for regulation, as well as lawsuits and opposition to tax breaks.The Nashville project is from DC BLOX, an Atlanta-based company that specializes in building and operating data cen...