In July, over 150 towns and counties in the United States implemented bans on data centers.

This summer, the trend of local governments in the United States resisting the construction of data centers has intensified, serving as a warning signal for major artificial intelligence companies like Anthropic, Google, and OpenAIcompanies that are relying on the expansion of data centers to achieve their computational power growth targets. In just the month of July, more than 150 towns and counties implemented temporary or permanent bans on data centers, with many bans rushed through emergency meetings. Analysis shows that by early August, the number of active data center bans across the United States had exceeded 500. When the ban tracking statistics were first launched at the end of June, the count was only a little over 300. The shutdown of related projects by various counties and towns stems from multiple concerns from local residents: data centers raise residents' electricity bills, consume scarce water resources, and generate a significant amount of noise. Supporters argue that such projects can create jobs in rural and industrial areas, attract investment, and drive infrastructure upgrades, asserting that some resident concerns are exaggerated. However, these viewpoints have not been able to stem the tide of new bans being enacted.