The data for the year moved from the back to the center

There was a time when most Americans had little knowledge about their data centers. For a long time the invisible but critical backbone of the Internet, server farms are not very attractive to non-technical people, let alone a matter of political interest.

Well, by 2025, it looks like those days will be over.

Over the past 12 months, data centers have fueled protests in many states, as activists try to crack down on America’s growing number of computers. Data Center Watch, an organization that tracks data center violations, where is he writing there are currently 142 activist groups in 24 states that are organizing against what is happening at the data center.

Agents have different concerns: a nature and potential health effects of these projects, a conflicting strategies how AI is being used, and, more importantly, whether many new additions to America’s electric grid can be made. raising local electricity bills.

Such sudden attacks seem like a natural response to companies that have grown so fast that they are now appearing in public squares. Of course, just as the AI ​​industry has grown to its greatest extent, so too has the cloud computing industry. The latest data from the US Census Bureau it shows thatas of 2021, the cost of building data centers has increased by a whopping 331%. The money spent on these things runs into the hundreds of billions of dollars. So many new data centers have been proposed in recent months that many experts believe that most of them will not—and, of course, it would not be possible— to be arrested.

This build shows no signs of slowing down at this point. Big tech giants—including Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon—have it everything has been announced The main goals of the money that will be used in the new year, most of which will go to such things.

New AI infrastructure is not only being pushed by Silicon Valley but by Washington, DC, where the Trump administration has made artificial intelligence a central plank of its agenda. Stargate Project, he announced in January, they launched a roadmap for building an AI infrastructure in 2025 to explain what is necessary “industrial restructuring in the United States.”

As it grows more and more popular, companies that were once unknown to the public suddenly become famous – and now they are suffering. Danny Candejas, a co-founder of the non-profit MediaJustice, has been involved in several protests against data centers, including protests in Memphis, Tennessee, earlier this year, where local residents came out to protest. the size of the ColossusElon Musk’s startup project, xAI.

Candejas told TechCrunch that he meets new people every week who express interest in organizing against data centers in their community. “I don’t think this is going to stop anytime soon,” he said. “I think it’s going to continue, and we’re going to see a lot of success — a lot of projects have been put on hold.”

Evidence to support Candeja’s assessment is everywhere. Across the country, people have reacted to the newly announced server farms in the same way that ordinary people would react to the presence of a highly contagious virus. In Michigan, for example, where the producers are now checking 16 different locations in order to build data centers, protesters recently arrived at the government headquarters, saying things like: “Michiganders don’t want data centers in our parks, in our communities.” Meanwhile, in Wisconsin—another dangerous place—people’s anger seems to be coming to an end disrupting Microsoft using their town as the headquarters for a new 244-acre development. In Southern California, the small city of Imperial Valley recently filed a lawsuit interfering with his district’s approval of the data center project, citing environmental concerns as reasons.

Dissatisfaction surrounding these projects has grown to such an extent that politicians believe they could alienate or alienate some voters at the ballot box. In November, it was reported that the rise in energy prices—which many believe is being driven by the AI ​​boom—could be. a difficult matter which creates a mid-term election in 2026.

“The whole connection of everyone’s energy bills going up — I think that’s what’s made this issue so difficult for people,” Candejas told TechCrunch. “Many of us are struggling month to month. Right now, there is a huge increase in data centers…(People are wondering) Where is all that money coming from?

Sometimes, protests seem to work and even stop (if temporarily) what was planned. Data Center Manager they say that some 64 billion dollars have been blocked or delayed due to public protests. Candejas is a firm believer in the idea that systemic action can stop companies in their tracks. “All this public pressure is working,” he said, noting that he could feel “palpable anger” about the issue.

Unsurprisingly, the tech industry is fighting back. Earlier this month, Politico he said that a new trade group, the National Artificial Intelligence Association (NAIA), has been “distributing communications information to members of Congress and organizing cross-sector data campaigns to better represent voters at their cost.” Tech companies, including Meta, have been running marketing campaigns to sell voters on the financial benefits of data centers, the outlet wrote. Summary: The hope of AI for the technology industry is based on the creation of very large products so at the moment, it is safe to say that in 2026 the increase in servers will continue, as will the reversal and polarization that surrounds it.