> ABC4’s crew was also issued a trespassing notice.
The class system in the US has never been more on display with the datacenter build outs. A senator who attacks a journalist gets them threatened by the police. Town halls to listen to local "concerns" are charades where they look for any excuse to arrest anyone who voices opposition [1].
On the other hand, even if the town council takes concerns seriously and denies permission to build, the companies doing the building will just sue and build them anyways[1].
>>> Claremore police arrested Darren Blanchard for trespassing during the meeting after officers said he refused to follow the rules after going over his allotted time to speak. Police escorted the man out of the meeting and booked him into the Rogers County Jail.
People in Utah are super upset about this data center project (and no, they aren't bussed-in paid protestors like "Mr. Wonderful" claims). Check Instagram and ksl.com for all the drama, it's very entertaining. Utahns are being asked to save water at every opportunity and then this world-record sized data center gets green lit by the state government with zero explanation as to how that jives with the drought narrative. People are already tracking down the financial links between state government officials and the people behind this are already being discovered. State senator slaps a reporter's iPhone out of their hand,county commissioner gets teary eyed saying his family was threatened, governor calls the attitude of all the citizens complaining "dumb" and throws a little temper tantrum. It's incredible
The impression I get from conversations with non-technical people is that they associate data centers with AI and all the associated controversies and negative externalities that come with that. They do not realize that there are non-AI uses for data centers. I wonder if it’s only a matter of time before people are openly trying to torch data centers.
I have family in Lakeland, Fl which is an area that is currently deciding on whether to build one. All I've heard from them is they're worried about their power rates and water bills going up. Their assumption is the added strain on the local infrastructure will be passed on to them.
People are drowning everywhere with inflation and anything that is perceived to lead to a higher monthly bill is going to encounter resistance.
To be fair, 99.9999% of all new datacenter projects are explicitly for AI and only for AI. Only AI projects want this much rack space. All the big tech companies combined (except their cloud computing arms) could fit together in just one of these AI datacenters.
Some of the people are upset that it's AI. Most in Utah are upset about drought conditions and reports of heavy metals in the air thanks to parts of The Great Salt Lake's lakebed being exposed to the air, and now this being rammed down their throats with no explanation of how it doesn't make all that worse.
Not to mention it's being given an 80% tax break, and the air quality is Salt Lake City being the worst in the world on bad days (the plan is for this data center to be natural gas powered).
Wow, second time this week that Utah has been on the HN Frontpage! Guess we're moving up in the world! Or, well, down, as neither story reflects particularly well on our state.
I am absolutely amazed to discover that, despite spending my whole life living in the US, I've never known that states also have their own senates. I'm starting to think that there is no age at which I will stop being embarrassed by the things I do not know.
It's so weird that people are getting worked up about a fake project. Regardless of government activities, there is no industry financing to actually build anything.
> ABC4’s crew was also issued a trespassing notice.
The class system in the US has never been more on display with the datacenter build outs. A senator who attacks a journalist gets them threatened by the police. Town halls to listen to local "concerns" are charades where they look for any excuse to arrest anyone who voices opposition [1].
[1] https://www.newson6.com/tulsa-oklahoma-news/arrest-made-duri...
It often seems that police officers' most sacred duty is to protect the property rights of the wealthy.
It seems like it is, because it is.
On the other hand, even if the town council takes concerns seriously and denies permission to build, the companies doing the building will just sue and build them anyways[1].
[1] https://fortune.com/2026/05/06/ai-data-center-michigan-salin...
>>> Claremore police arrested Darren Blanchard for trespassing during the meeting after officers said he refused to follow the rules after going over his allotted time to speak. Police escorted the man out of the meeting and booked him into the Rogers County Jail.
There's something very very wrong with that.
People in Utah are super upset about this data center project (and no, they aren't bussed-in paid protestors like "Mr. Wonderful" claims). Check Instagram and ksl.com for all the drama, it's very entertaining. Utahns are being asked to save water at every opportunity and then this world-record sized data center gets green lit by the state government with zero explanation as to how that jives with the drought narrative. People are already tracking down the financial links between state government officials and the people behind this are already being discovered. State senator slaps a reporter's iPhone out of their hand,county commissioner gets teary eyed saying his family was threatened, governor calls the attitude of all the citizens complaining "dumb" and throws a little temper tantrum. It's incredible
The impression I get from conversations with non-technical people is that they associate data centers with AI and all the associated controversies and negative externalities that come with that. They do not realize that there are non-AI uses for data centers. I wonder if it’s only a matter of time before people are openly trying to torch data centers.
I have family in Lakeland, Fl which is an area that is currently deciding on whether to build one. All I've heard from them is they're worried about their power rates and water bills going up. Their assumption is the added strain on the local infrastructure will be passed on to them.
People are drowning everywhere with inflation and anything that is perceived to lead to a higher monthly bill is going to encounter resistance.
To be fair, 99.9999% of all new datacenter projects are explicitly for AI and only for AI. Only AI projects want this much rack space. All the big tech companies combined (except their cloud computing arms) could fit together in just one of these AI datacenters.
Have a source for that?
Some of the people are upset that it's AI. Most in Utah are upset about drought conditions and reports of heavy metals in the air thanks to parts of The Great Salt Lake's lakebed being exposed to the air, and now this being rammed down their throats with no explanation of how it doesn't make all that worse.
Not to mention it's being given an 80% tax break, and the air quality is Salt Lake City being the worst in the world on bad days (the plan is for this data center to be natural gas powered).
Wow, second time this week that Utah has been on the HN Frontpage! Guess we're moving up in the world! Or, well, down, as neither story reflects particularly well on our state.
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Sounds like someone is pretty easily triggered
Problems with the title:
1. The story is not about one of Utah's 2 US senators, but about one of its state senators. The title should probably say "Utah state senator."
2. There is a missing apostrophe in "reporter's"
I am absolutely amazed to discover that, despite spending my whole life living in the US, I've never known that states also have their own senates. I'm starting to think that there is no age at which I will stop being embarrassed by the things I do not know.
He is a Utah senator. It is a job title.
Many people reading this headline will initially assume, as I did, that it refers to one of Utah's two US senators.
Why not add the word "state" and immediately clarify this?
It's so weird that people are getting worked up about a fake project. Regardless of government activities, there is no industry financing to actually build anything.
Kevin O'Leary’s Biggest Scam Yet: https://youtu.be/RWoV0EXxa7c
If you are right that it's all a scam then that makes it even more upsetting that government leaders are falling for it