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What's up today · by Rafael Almeida · 2026-11-04

Voters rejected data center projects on several ballots. Is this the start of an AI backlash?

theverge.com

Axios called it an 'AI earthquake': several local ballot measures for data centers went down. The Verge argues the fight over tech accountability is just getting started. Locals talk about power bills, water use and noise, while the companies point to jobs and tax money. Would you vote for a big data center in your town?

31 sparks · 4 comments

Comments

Midnight Rider · 8 likes

The jobs number is always the selling point but these things employ like 50 people once built

Angel Reyes · 0 likes

one opened near my parents and their electric bill went up like 20%. they'd vote no in a heartbeat

Omar Hassan · 0 likes

is that actually the data center though or just rates going up everywhere? genuine question

Brave Panda · 0 likes

i would vote yes if they had to run on their own solar and pay for the grid upgrade. that's the deal