16 US States Move to Block Data Centres as $765bn AI Build-Out Races On

Sixteen US states have proposed laws banning or pausing new data centres, turning the AI infrastructure boom into a midterm election flashpoint three weeks before Americans vote on 3 November.

President Donald Trump has dismissed the backlash as a "sick conspiracy," but opposition now cuts across party lines. Republicans and Democrats alike are campaigning against new facilities, putting local opponents on a collision course with the White House.

The stakes are enormous. The tech industry is expected to spend a combined $765bn (£544bn) on AI infrastructure in 2026, with that figure topping $1tn next year, according to projections cited in the source.

How fast are data centres multiplying?

There are about 12,250 data centres worldwide, according to Data Center Map, a company tracking operational and pre-operational sites. That's up sharply from roughly 8,000 operational sites in 2021 — more than 50% growth in four years.

The US hosts 4,767 sites, the densest cluster on the planet, followed by Europe, where the UK and Germany lead. But raw site counts understate the gap. In actual computing capacity, the US leads by a far larger margin, with China second and Europe lagging well behind — a divide some analysts warn could cost Europe the economic benefits of the AI boom.

Data centres have historically clustered near cities, close to high-voltage power lines and water for cooling. As they grow, more are being built in rural areas.

The sites themselves are getting bigger too. The largest operational facility, run by China Telecom in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, covers roughly one million square metres (10.7 million sq ft) — about 140 FIFA football pitches. Larger sites are already under construction.

One example: Colossus 2, part of the wider Colossus campus, will house hundreds of thousands of advanced Nvidia AI chips and will train xAI's chatbot Grok. Elon Musk's company plans to power the site with 41 methane gas turbines, which activists say could "significantly increase" local air pollution. Local regulators maintain the turbines will meet air quality standards.

Takeaway: the build-out is accelerating faster than almost any infrastructure class in history, and it's moving into rural backyards.

Why is electricity the flashpoint?

Data centres worldwide are thought to consume more electricity than the whole of France. That demand is driving up carbon emissions, analysis shows, while straining local grids — which some fear will push up energy prices for ordinary consumers.

Water is a second pressure point. The facilities use significant amounts of it for cooling, which some experts warn could contribute to water shortages.

Noise and land use round out the complaints. The backlash has spread well beyond the US, with opposition emerging in Mexico, France, Indonesia and the UK.

Takeaway: the argument is no longer abstract — it's about electricity bills, water supplies and air quality in specific towns.

Do data centres actually create jobs?

Supporters argue the facilities are critical to national security and AI development, and point to investment, tax revenue and construction jobs.

The evidence is mixed. A recent report by the Brookings Center found data centres do create local jobs — just fewer than industry advocates claim. The type of facility matters: hyperscale sites owned and run by tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft have a bigger positive jobs effect. "Colocation" facilities, which lease space to remote tenants with no local presence, deliver fewer benefits.

Takeaway: the jobs case is real but overstated, and it depends heavily on who owns the building.

What comes next?

For now, the rollout continues regardless of the politics. With spending set to top $1tn next year, the industry is also hedging on the environmental critique. One proposal: putting data centres in space or on the Moon, where they could harness abundant solar energy. Others predict more AI processing will shift onto hardware already inside our laptops and smartphones, shrinking the need for vast facilities altogether.

Those are long-game bets. On 3 November, voters in 16 states will weigh in on something far more immediate: whether their communities keep hosting the server farms powering ChatGPT, Claude and Grok.