"But as more voters grow critical of AI data centers - the sprawling, humming, energy-guzzling campuses that power everything from pharmaceutical research to your AI girlfriend - they and many other politicians are squaring off with Big Tech and calling to regulate the burgeoning behemoths. In New York, lawmakers have proposed a three-year moratorium on developing new centers. "Massive data centers are gunning for New York, and right now we are completely unprepared," state Senator Liz Krueger said when announcing the bill earlier this month."
"Georgia, Maryland, and Oklahoma are among a handful of states that have introduced bills this year to pause data center construction. National and local politicians are calling for data centers to pay their fare share of rising utility costs. Sanders has gone so far to call for a national moratorium, arguing it would help America to "catch up" and "make sure that the benefits of these technologies work for all of us, not just the wealthiest people on Earth.""
AI data centers are drawing bipartisan political opposition due to their energy consumption, local impacts, and utility cost burdens. Several states have proposed moratoriums or bills to pause new data center construction and to require centers to contribute more to rising utility costs. Historically, many states offered tax incentives to attract data centers for jobs and long-term revenue, but rapid expansion has fueled NIMBY backlash. Spending on data center development surged in 2024, with major tech firms planning hundreds of billions in property and equipment investments. By the end of 2025, the U.S. had over 4,000 data centers and nearly 3,000 more planned or under construction.
Read at Business Insider
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