What America’s fight over AI infrastructure is really about
Contention over data centre build-outs has crossed partisan lines
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A YEAR ago, most Americans would have struggled to explain what a “hyperscale data centre” was.
Today, it is a flashpoint. In the first three months of 2026 alone, local opposition blocked or delayed at least 75 data centre projects worth roughly US$130 billion, nearly matching the total for all of 2025 combined.
The number of organised opposition groups has surged past 800, active in nearly every state.
