Americans across the country are rallying against the AI-inspired data center boom.
Now, an increasing number of local lawmakers are backing them up, issuing restrictions, imposing moratoriums, or outright banning construction.
Data centers have become a major source of contention in the United States, where tech leaders, developers, and investors are pumping billions of dollars into the large-scale construction projects. The facilities house the servers powering the AI products sold by Big Tech companies and leading AI startups like Anthropic and OpenAI.
Although data centers in America aren't new, the AI revolution is fueling ever-increasing demand and requiring facilities that dwarf those of the past. A Business Insider investigation published last week found 1,416 data centers already built or approved for construction across 45 states and Washington, DC, in 2025.
The White House has supported this push for more data centers. In 2025, the Trump administration accelerated federal permitting for their construction and directed the US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to provide financial support for certain projects. The administration also backed the Stargate project, a joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank that seeks to build out AI infrastructure.
Supporters say the data centers will create new jobs and strengthen the economy, and are necessary if the United States wants to compete with China to lead the world in AI. Critics, however, are more worried about how they will affect the communities where they are being built.
They worry about the impact on the environment, wildlife, water resources, air quality, electricity costs, traffic, and noise levels. Some have also criticized local officials and developers for what they say has been a lack of transparency in the approval process. Protesters have swarmed community meetings, launched petitions, and even taken legal action to stop data center developments in recent months.
Some high-profile figures in the data center game, including Jeff Bezos and Kevin O'Leary, have tried to sway public opinion. That PR push, however, hasn't had much impact. A Pew Research Center survey earlier this year found that the more Americans learn about data centers, the worse they feel about them.
