US mayors push back against data centre boom as AI backlash grows

Data centres were supposed to be a gift. In cities across the United States, more and more mayors are treating them like a problem.

With the midterm election season approaching, big tech’s promise of a windfall of jobs and tax revenue has given way to talk of polluting gas turbines, strained power grids and a growing sense that the AI revolution is being built on the backs of regular citizens.