Over500 jurisdictions ban data center construction, threatening US pole position in AI race

Over 500 jurisdictions across the US are slamming the brakes on construction of massive data centers, threatening the US’ position in the AI race against countries like China.More than 150 localities passed bans last month alone, as tech giants and developers face a tsunami of opposition from local Luddites, news site The Information found.Over the summer, activists protested from Fredericksburg, Va., to Tyler, Texas, and beyond to voice their opposition to planned data centers.They cited concerns like the environmental impact and energy consumption of the gargantuan sites.“There’s a pretty strong sense that local people want to oppose these and part of it is the tech bros are forcing AI on us,” Paul Triolo, a partner at consulting firm DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group, told The Post.“The popular message around AI is like pretty pretty negative.

Part of the game is changing that public narrative.We’re saying, ‘Hey, there may be a way to solve this problem that’s good for both sides.”The backlash is not confined to the local level, and two states have pushed back against data center growth.

New York Gov.Hochul, a Dem, enacted a one-year moratorium on new data centers.

Texas is taking a less strict approach, with Gov.Greg Abbott, a Republican, implementing a pause so state agencies can audit projects.

There is no end date for the hiatus.In the meantime, developers are getting vilified.“A lot of folks who challenge any kind of development project, they think developers and the nefarious lawyers like us want to come in and just bulldoze people,” said Robert Loftin, a lawyer who represented a data center builder in a Northern Virginia dispute, told Bloomberg.The Post reported in April that one AI data center developer weathered vicious online attacks, lawsuits and even Luigi Mangione-inspired death threats as he sought to build a behemoth AI project in southern California.The fiery opposition has delayed the project, which would be California’s...