AI data center boom faces backlash at US ballot box

Voters in 10 US states will decide on Election Day whether to curb data center development in their communities, as the rapid buildout needed to power the AI boom stirs local opposition.

Resistance is especially visible in Ohio, one of the country’s fastest-growing data center markets. No state has more data center-related ballot measures, with voters in more than a dozen jurisdictions set to consider 21 proposals alongside Tuesday’s midterm elections, according to the nonpartisan research group Ballotpedia.