More than 500 US cities and counties have now restricted data center development, up from over 300 in late June. New York and Texas have joined the resistance, signaling growing local pushback against AI infrastructure expansion.
The rapid increase in data center bans reflects escalating concerns about power consumption, water usage, and land development. Local governments cite strain on electrical grids and environmental impacts as primary reasons for the restrictions.
AI companies including Anthropic face mounting obstacles as they seek locations for computing infrastructure needed to train large language models. The bans concentrate in regions with existing energy constraints and environmental sensitivity.
Texas and New York's recent restrictions carry significant weight given their size and economic influence. Texas, traditionally friendly to industrial development, has shifted stance amid grid reliability concerns. New York's move reflects widespread opposition from communities worried about resource depletion.
The trend accelerated notably in summer 2024, suggesting local governments are coordinating responses to data center proliferation. Industry observers note the bans may force companies to seek alternatives like purchasing existing facilities or negotiating directly with utilities for dedicated power supplies.
David Ellison's company has won backing from the world's two largest movie theater chains for a major merger, marking a significant divide in the industry as other chains oppose the deal.
Illinois has enacted legislation requiring all operating systems to report users' ages, particularly targeting children. The law aims to enforce age verification across digital platforms.
Moody's warns that banks' rush to adopt AI is creating dangerous dependence on a handful of Silicon Valley firms, exposing the financial sector to outage risks and potential price manipulation.
Shopify replaced Redis with MySQL for managing inventory reservations, demonstrating the approach scaled effectively for the platform's needs. The engineering team detailed the migration in a new blog post.