{"id":7314,"date":"2026-08-20T17:08:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T17:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7314"},"modified":"2026-08-20T17:08:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T17:08:20","slug":"tech-deploys-charm-offensive-to-combat-ai-data-center-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7314","title":{"rendered":"Tech deploys charm offensive to combat AI data center backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Brody Ford, Josh Saul, Dina Bass and Leonardo Nicoletti, Bloomberg<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the 230,000 people living in rural Do\u00f1a Ana County, Oracle Corp.\u2019s Project Jupiter data center has quickly become an inescapable part of life. Mailers hailing \u201cA NEW DAY FOR NEW MEXICO\u201d have been sent to homes, touting its economic benefits. Oracle and its partners have donated money to sponsor organizations like the Boys & Girls Club and a local food pantry. Even a local Dino Dig park, where kids can excavate replica dinosaur fossils, will have a sign with the name of its new tech benefactor.<\/p>\n

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Oracle, not known\u00a0for its feel-good marketing, has unleashed one of the most aggressive pro-data center PR efforts\u00a0to rally support for the massive 2.45 gigawatt facility \u2014 a centerpiece\u00a0of its $300 billion\u00a0computing deal with OpenAI inked last year. The campaign follows intense local pushback directed in part at the secrecy that shrouded the project when it first became public.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0Hayward approved a massive data center. Then it rewrote the rules<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before the data center initiative was revealed in full, the developers worked with local officials on an incentive plan for the project and a strategy for how to roll out information to the public, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg. Locals only learned the venture was tied to Oracle and OpenAI after it was approved \u2014\u00a0further inflaming social media criticism (including from accounts like @projectstupider) and tense planning meetings, where a critic was banned and later arrested for showing up disguised in a mustache. One longtime resident, Daisy Maldonado, is now running for county commissioner partly on a platform of opposing the data center.<\/p>\n

The clash in Do\u00f1a Ana is a microcosm of battles brewing across the US and abroad, as tech firms urgently shift from working in the shadows to trying to win over an increasingly skeptical public. Silicon Valley, previously accustomed to being feted with generous tax breaks, is now going on a charm offensive with marketing, community projects and local outreach, with mixed results. At least 75\u00a0data center projects, worth about\u00a0$130 billion combined, were blocked or delayed by local opposition during the first three months of this year,\u00a0according to research group Data Center Watch,\u00a0approaching the total value of projects\u00a0stalled by local resistance in all of 2025.<\/p>\n

The opposition has been particularly prevalent in political battleground states like Michigan and Georgia, where 17\u00a0projects have been delayed or blocked, the data shows. In Michigan alone, upwards of 50 communities have passed or proposed moratoriums, according to local reporting and township postings, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers is now\u00a0moving to repeal tax breaks for the facilities.<\/p>\n

The aversion to data centers is a bipartisan issue that threatens to upend the push by Silicon Valley and President Donald Trump to marshal resources to outcompete China and other nations in the race to lead AI, and usher in a promised era of economic and societal benefits. It also risks scrambling the political map in the lead-up to this year\u2019s midterm elections. Suddenly, residents and officials in red states and swing districts such as Texas, Mississippi and Ohio are echoing progressive leaders like Bernie Sanders in calling for pauses on new data centers.<\/p>\n

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New York Governor Kathy Hochul\u00a0issued\u00a0an executive order in July\u00a0to pause for up to one year permits for new data centers that are at least 50 megawatts \u2014\u00a0a meager amount by today\u2019s AI standards. The next month,\u00a0Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Trump ally, froze new data center projects until the state conducts a comprehensive audit.\u00a0On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order requiring local approval to get state permits for data-center projects.<\/p>\n

Faced with new roadblocks to their ambitious plans to spend hundreds of billions of dollars this year alone on AI data centers, Big Tech firms and their\u00a0developer partners are revving up their PR machines, making new concessions and shifting how they show up in various counties.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like they\u2019re doing their best to penetrate the community\u2019s psyche,\u201d said Maldonado, the local organizer in Do\u00f1a Ana, of Oracle and its partners.\u00a0Oracle, for its part, argues that Project Jupiter will create massive investment for the region without damaging the environment.<\/p>\n

Meta Platforms Inc. has spent millions on TV commercials that attempt to persuade Americans its data centers have a positive impact on places like Altoona, Iowa \u2014\u00a0ads that include happy locals working in server farms. \u201cThis could very well turn into the site where cancer gets cured,\u201d OpenAI\u2019s Sam Altman told a crowd in Michigan, where a data center dubbed \u201cThe Barn\u201d has faced significant protests. (Oracle, another partner on the site, has offered residents a more tangible benefit: sponsoring a series of free concerts in town this summer.)<\/p>\n

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Microsoft Corp., meanwhile, said it would no longer seek tax breaks from communities where it\u2019s building these facilities, a concession to public opinion. Its former top antitrust lawyer has been tasked with\u00a0overseeing legal matters for infrastructure. And the software giant, known for sweeping policy statements that aim to position itself as the adult in the room, unveiled a \u201ccommunity-first AI infrastructure\u201d policy in January, including the idea of paying its own way to make sure data centers don\u2019t boost local electricity bills.<\/p>\n

Soon after, the White House announced its nonbinding Ratepayer Protection Pledge, encouraging tech companies to pay for their own power supply and investing in job creation. As of early August, there were more than 300 signatories. On the ground, this often translates to sponsoring more local organizations and spending more time in community meetings.As part of its plans to build a more than $30 billion data center near Savannah, Georgia, OpenAI is meeting\u00a0with residents to hear feedback and has pledged to take steps to conserve water and pay its own way\u00a0in terms of power and energy infrastructure.\u00a0The approach is based on\u00a0\u201ca real understanding that you do need to do this differently,\u201d said\u00a0Chris Lehane, OpenAI\u2019s head of global policy affairs, in an interview. \u201cYou do need to do it with, of, for, and by the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes, the outreach is still not enough to overcome the new wall of opposition.<\/p>\n

A showdown with MicrosoftJerry Hale expected a reasonably smooth rollout when he and other government officials in Lowell Township announced late last year that they were in talks to bring a large data center to their quiet corner of Western Michigan. Instead, community organizers swiftly mobilized against the project before the tech firm behind it had even been revealed.<\/p>\n

Opponents met up in a library and formed a Facebook group \u2014 Residents United for a Healthy Lowell \u2014 to protest the plans. They hung up fliers, stuck yard signs in snowy front yards and turned to outside groups for support and guidance on fighting data centers. At a public hearing in December, so many showed up that the fire chief had to shut it down. Less than a week later, the officials suspended participation in the project until the unnamed tech company came forward.<\/p>\n

In early January, Microsoft revealed\u00a0its involvement and kicked off a PR blitz \u2014\u00a0holding town halls, pledging not to drive up power bills and, in a major shift, scrapping non-disclosure agreements and property tax breaks with local governments. Months later, the project is moving slowly, with some residents now referring to the company as Microslop. \u201cThey want to stop a data center, period,\u201d said Hale, the township\u2019s 82-year-old supervisor. \u201cThat\u2019s their goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Microsoft representative said the company is committed to responsible development in Lowell Township and making sure its presence reflects local priorities.<\/p>\n

For organizers like\u00a0Residents United\u2019s Betsy L\u00f3pez-Wagner, the issue is bigger than one data center. \u201cWe don\u2019t want this in our backyard,\u201d she said, citing concerns about AI\u2019s broader potential to facilitate surveillance systems and harm the environment. \u201cWe don\u2019t want it in anybody\u2019s backyard.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Some local leaders have pointed out an\u00a0irony in citizens protesting server farms while relying on the services they facilitate. \u201cThey hate data centers and they use ChatGPT to generate their comments at council to tell us how they hate data centers,\u201d said Andy Schor, the mayor of Lansing, Michigan, during a meeting of city leaders in January.<\/p>\n

Still, L\u00f3pez-Wagner has reinforcements in her campaign. Local Michigan groups, including those in Lowell Township, have been buttressed by statewide organizations, such as the grassroots Economic Development Responsibility Alliance of Michigan, which distributes toolkits on data center opposition to organizers. \u201cThink of it like a spiderweb that\u2019s spread all across the state,\u201d said Marjorie Steele, EDRA\u2019s founder.<\/p>\n

Michigan groups receive guidance and connections from national organizations, including the Sierra Club, a major force in the fight against data center development. The California-based environmental outfit publishes state-specific model ordinances regulating data centers, printable pamphlets and fact sheets to hand out to community members, as well as detailed checklists that advise forming a Facebook group, dressing in matching clothes at events and inviting reporters for maximum impact.<\/p>\n

Some Sierra Club organizers hold regular online meetings where organizers of various opposition efforts can give updates on their specific battle and trade tips on what works best. \u201cPeople will say, \u2018Earlier on, I wish we\u2019d done x, y and z,\u2019 and then that\u2019s applied to newer fights as they show up,\u201d said Cassie Steiner, a campaign coordinator in the Wisconsin chapter of the Sierra Club.<\/p>\n

The Sierra Club also teams up with national groups like Earthjustice and Natural Resources Defense Council to intervene in regulatory cases brought by utilities, which are crucial for data centers to obtain power. The group sends alerts to its mailing list about important cases, complete with key points, how the decision would affect them and links for where they can comment on the docket. Earlier this year, Sierra Club\u2019s Michigan chapter also issued a petition to tell lawmakers to support a temporary moratorium on data center development.Preparing for the next fight<\/p>\n

More than any other large tech firm, Oracle has bet the house on delivering massive data centers on an incredibly tight timeline. That raises the stakes for the company, and its partners, for any delay.<\/p>\n

As local backlash mounted to the New Mexico project, government groups coordinated on responses. \u201cYou\u2019ve likely seen some of the recent attacks on the project,\u201d wrote an official in the state\u2019s Economic Development Department to colleagues in September. The organization would work with the county and other departments to provide \u201creal information\u201d and line up locals to speak on the project\u2019s behalf, the official wrote.<\/p>\n

Today, the largest potential roadblock is state approval for permits to run a massive grid to power the data center. Initial plans were for natural gas generators that would create more emissions\u00a0than the state\u2019s two largest cities combined, which were a common point of focus for local critics. Paid canvassers for the Oracle project have flanked gas stations and grocery stores looking for supportive comments on the project,\u00a0according to local news outlet Source New Mexico which has covered the project closely.<\/p>\n

In April, Oracle made what it said was\u00a0a major concession: using fuel cells from Bloom Energy, a cleaner option. However, Oracle\u2019s decision was at least partly driven by supply chain snags procuring gas turbines rather than environmental considerations, according to people familiar with the events.An Oracle spokesperson said the change in power plan was due to \u201cbeing a responsible part of the community,\u201d not supply timing. \u201cWhile gas turbine lead times have increased overall,\u201d this project has not been meaningfully impacted, the spokesperson said. Moreover,\u00a0Project Jupiter\u2019s use of public drinking water will be similar to an office building, said the spokesperson. The project has already generated almost $80 million in state and local tax revenue, the company said in late July.<\/p>\n

Though some residents remain concerned, others are content to see cash pouring into the county, said Maldonado, the candidate for commissioner. \u201cWe\u2019ve heard from community members: \u2018We don\u2019t trust them and know they\u2019re trying to buy us off, but I\u2019ll take a party or free food.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Halfway across the country, Steve Swope and his allies have also hit roadblocks in their campaign against a reported $17 billion data center developed by real estate firm Prologis southwest of Atlanta.<\/p>\n

Swope, a retired hotel software executive and church deacon, was outraged to learn the roughly 830-acre site was planned for an area zoned for rural conservation with \u201cwoods, rolling hills and farmland\u201d just four miles from his home, he said. Swope said his group isn\u2019t opposed to a data center but regards this location as untenable. He joined up with equally unhappy neighbors, set up a Facebook group, formed a PAC, started a GoFundMe and hired a lawyer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey think they\u2019re dealing with people who were on \u2018Hee Haw\u2019 in the 70s,\u201d he said of the developer. \u201cThat we\u2019re a bunch of country bumpkins and we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prologis, meanwhile, said its officials went to barbecues, took a data center tour alongside residents and visited homes near the proposed project to hear their\u00a0concerns. The company has made some changes to its plans, but can\u2019t move to a different county location because this one has far better energy access, said Prologis Vice President JC Witt. \u201cThe claim that it\u2019s the wrong location is, I would say, misplaced,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s really a concern about data centers in general and that is rooted more in a concern about AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

On a Tuesday evening in April, Swope\u2019s group showed up to a rezoning meeting\u00a0wearing red shirts, some of them emblazoned with a Citizens for Rural Coweta logo, and raised questions about traffic safety, property values and the environment. Swope also attacked the proposed tax benefits.\u00a0Prologis said it expected to bring roughly $100 million in annual tax revenue to the county, down from\u00a0$1.6\u00a0billion estimated in the first filings on the project. Prologis said the numbers were refined as key details were worked out. Using actual results from comparable data centers, Swope argued even that figure was too high.<\/p>\n

Ninety minutes into the hearing, Swope\u2019s group lost. Rather than give up, though, they\u00a0filed two motions to overturn the zoning decision, with the hope of delaying construction long enough that Prologis loses interest.<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s PAC also plans to take on the three commissioners who voted for the project at the hearing. \u201cWe will collect as much money as we possibly can,\u201d Swope said in an interview, \u201cto make sure you never hold that seat again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Five stabbed at Placer County casino, one arrested<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2013With assistance from Emily Forgash and Hannah Miller.<\/p>\n

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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