Silicon Valley Loses $64 Billion Data Center Push as 71% Oppose Local Projects
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 19
Silicon Valley Loses $64 Billion Data Center Push as 71% Oppose Local Projects
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 19
Summary
$64 billion in U.S. data center projects were blocked or delayed between May 2024 and March 2025, underscoring how sharply local resistance has turned against AI infrastructure.
71% of Americans oppose data centers in their communities, and New York has already imposed a one-year moratorium on new hyperscale approvals, making it the first state to halt such projects.
Silicon Valley's lobbying machine is built for Washington fights over privacy, antitrust and content, but AI expansion depends on winning county permits, utility hearings, water access and transmission approvals nationwide.
More than 230 groups, led by Food & Water Watch and including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, are pressing for a national moratorium and sharing legal and political tactics across states.
The report argues tech companies must create local beneficiaries through power investment, infrastructure spending and community ties or risk a nuclear-style backlash that slows U.S. AI buildout for years.