Big Tech Says Data Centers Must Change To Survive Local Opposition

As data center projects face fierce opposition across the U.S., leaders at Microsoft and Oracle say the industry can no longer afford to be dismissive of local concerns.

Instead, developers and hyperscalers need to be proactive and change how data centers are designed and built to be more palatable to the growing number of communities into which the industry is expanding.

With the artificial intelligence building boom pushing large-scale data center development beyond the industry’s traditional footprint, local opposition is emerging alongside power availability as one of the sector’s biggest constraints...