As demand for data centers is surging with the spread of artificial intelligence (AI), a construction boom is underway around the world, but in the United States, the center of AI technology, opposition to it is growing.
On the 12th (local time), the Washington Post (WP), in an article headlined "Multiple cities reject AI data center construction, and one city was even sued over the issue," reported, "Even as technology corporations are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure, opposition to data center construction projects is mounting nationwide."
According to WP, Related Digital, a data center developer, pushed a project to convert 250 acres (ac, about 1.01 million square meters) of farmland into a data center in Saline Township, Michigan, but faced strong opposition from local residents, and the township board did not approve the land use change essential for data center construction.
The developer, along with some residents who were trying to sell land to it, filed a lawsuit against the township board and engaged in a prolonged legal battle. In the end, the township board approved Related Digital's project on the condition of limiting water usage and donating millions of dollars for the township fire department, public buildings, and farmland preservation.
In August, St. Charles, Missouri, passed a moratorium bill that would bar the construction of any data center for the next year in response to backlash against a developer's project. St. Charles Mayor Dan Borgmeyer said the city took the step because the data center was slated to be built near a local drinking water source.
Early this year in Memphis, Tennessee, conflict also flared over data center construction. xAI, led by Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, is building the world's largest data center, "Colossus," in Memphis, and local residents have voiced concern that securing the massive electricity needed to operate the center could worsen environmental pollution and power shortages.
The reasons data center construction runs into community opposition are complex. To begin with, when a data center goes up, problems follow such as noise, higher electricity bills due to massive power consumption, and excessive water use for system cooling. Although construction creates jobs, most are short term, leading to voices in the community saying the burdens outweigh the benefits.
Experts say these conflicts have intensified as the AI boom has driven a wave of data center construction in recent months. Ben Green, an assistant professor in the University of Michigan's School of Information, said, "It seems there's been a major shift over the last six months as the public has started to recognize what a data center is," adding, "People are becoming increasingly skeptical of data centers."
Backlash against data centers also appears likely to affect the "Stargate Project," a priority initiative of U.S. President Donald Trump. "Stargate" is a massive infrastructure project into which OpenAI, cloud corporation Oracle, and Japan's SoftBank plan to invest $500 billion (about 712 trillion won) over four years, with plans to build data center campuses at five sites across the United States. However, in Lordstown, Ohio, one of the candidate sites, a measure to impose a total ban on data center construction is being pursued.
WP said, "Redeveloping the site of a former GM plant and tying it to the AI industry could signal the dramatic revival of Lordstown, once a 'corporation city,'" but added, "Those hopes, however, are contingent on SoftBank not placing a larger data center at the site." In other words, Lordstown residents are not welcoming the construction of a large data center.