Expansions in AI infrastructure spark concerns over data center development
Photo courtesy of BalticServers/Wikimedia Commons
An AI data center processing demands from the increased use of AI. Centers like these can be hundreds of acres large, housing much technology powering AI usage
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology rapidly becomes ubiquitous, major AI companies are beginning to reshape infrastructure and accommodate large data centers, signaling massive shifts in the real estate market. As of 2025, the United States houses 5,426 data centers, which account for “51% of the world’s hyperscale AI facilities,” according to a fact sheet from All About AI. These numbers are projected to continuously rise.
Significant consolidations between the biggest names in AI technology and multibillion dollar investments in data center expansion are setting the stage for increases in AI-friendly infrastructure. Forbes tracked some of the biggest deals made in the AI landscape in the past year, including respective investments of 50 billion dollars each from Amazon and Anthropic to support data center construction and increased capacity, a contract between OpenAI and Oracle “to purchase $300 billion in computing power over the next five years,” and a whopping 500 billion dollar deal brokered by President Trump in which OpenAI, Oracle, and Softbank would jointly found a new company called Stargate.
The Stargate project stipulates the construction of 20 new AI data centers in the U.S. with the goal of maintaining the country’s position as a leader in AI technology and investment, according to an article by Forbes detailing the agreement. In line with Stargate’s goals and other AI expansion efforts, hundreds of acres of land are being acquired for data center development projects. According to the Austin American-Statesman, Stargate’s flagship data center in Abilene, Texas is planned to be “about 875 acres, which is about the same size as New York’s Central Park.” The Statesman also reported that in a January briefing on Stargate’s plans, Oracle’s Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison added that 10 other data centers were also already underway in Texas, “including one that spans 1 million square feet.”
As AI development projects forge ahead, many residential communities are feeling left behind. Quoted by AP News, Abilene resident Arlene Mendler “said she wished she had more say in the project,” with the article adding that “The project was essentially a done deal once she found out about it.” Mendler is not alone in this, and some are even finding that these projects are not just affecting the landscape, but the facilities in their home as well. The BBC shares the story of Beverly Morris, a small-town Georgia resident living just a few hundred yards from one of Meta’s data centers. Morris says, “I can’t live in my home with half of my home functioning and no water…I can’t drink the water,” demonstrating to reporters the extremely low water pressure and sediment found in the water from the home’s taps.
Rural areas and small towns are not the only residential areas under pressure from data center developers, however; suburban residents are facing similar challenges. An entire neighborhood in Elk Grove Village, Illinois was bought up by Stream Data Centers in 2023, according to a local media group of Chicago’s northwest suburbs, Journal & Topics. The annexation, approved by Elk Grove Village trustees, meant 950,000 dollar buyouts for each home. The plans would ultimately replace an entire subdivision of 55 homes with a 2.1 million square foot data center.
Efforts to stage annexations of a similar scale are taking place all over the country under the promise of more jobs and booming investment to reinvigorate local economies. MSN reported on one such case in which community members of Festus, Missouri gathered to deliberate on a potential data center in their city, some of whom were optimistic on the prospect. One speaker commented, “Growth creates jobs. Jobs turn into careers and those careers help stabilize communities,” while others saw the proposal as a betrayal. Those against the annexation spoke out on “Concerns centered on potential shrinking property values, pollution, and the sheer proximity of the industrial site to residential areas.”
Contention over data center development is rising as AI companies continue to scale up expansions, with many communities generating strong pushback. According to NPR, “more data center projects are being delayed or outright rejected — 16 projects nationally between May of last year and this past March, according to a study by Data Center Watch.”