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AI is driving a wave of new data centers, but communities are increasingly asking what they get in return. Virginia’s Loudoun County turned the industry into a major tax base that helped fund schools, parks and infrastructure, yet even there, officials are now putting limits on further growth. The bigger lesson may be that towns have more bargaining power than they think. (Source: Bloomberg)
Two weeks out from the Midterm elections, there’s bipartisan pushback against data centers that suck the water and power out of communities. Just two years ago, ChatGPT was still a brand new thing, and AI was admired with awe by most voters. Like in 2024, the hot button issue in swing constituencies remains inflation or ‘the price of eggs’. But anxiety over the end of the month is now coupled with anxiety over the end of the world. In 2026, bots and large language models write papers and churn out campaign ads. We'll ask about calls for regulation despite fierce resistance from tech billionaires and whether the latest wobbles from the stock market signal that the race to corner the market and scale up at warp speed may be running out of road.
With the US midterm elections just weeks away, data centers are emerging as a major political issue for both Republicans and Democrats. There are about 3,000 facilities currently operating in the country. With that number potentially doubling in the coming years, concern – and, in some cases, anger – is growing among voters. FRANCE 24's Fraser Jackson report from West Virginia.
The BBC's Shaimaa Khalil travelled to the US state to hear from residents who live alongside these giant facilities.
Hallador Energy Co., a US coal miner and power producer, agreed to sell electricity to an Indiana utility, spurred by surging demand from data centers in the state.