Since generative AI took off around 2022, the boom has opened a new front in the United States and
China's race for technological supremacy. More than 3,000 data centers have sprung up across all
50 states, with more than 1,400 others in various stages of development, according to
Data Center Map, a Denmark-based commercial database. The thousands of specialized computer chips needed to process and store AI workloads consume enormous amounts of energy and require constant cooling to prevent overheating.
Residents and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have raised concerns about energy-intensive centers' impact on local power grids, water supplies and electricity costs, with 71 percent of respondents to a March Gallup poll opposed to data-center construction in their communities.
