Inside the Towns Saying Hell No to AI Data Centers w/ Jasmine Sun

September 2, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In Port Washington, Wisconsin, locals time how long it takes to drive past the proposed data center at 70 miles per hour. The answer is about a minute and a half. These are not the sleek server farms of Silicon Valley imagination. They are "gigantic gray boxes" with no windows, built flat rather than tall because the weight and complexity of the electrical systems and racks of chips make vertical construction impractical. They sit on hundreds of acres, often carved out of farmland or former industrial sites, and they emit a constant, mechanical hum—like a loud air conditioner that never stops. Independent journalist Jasmine Sun spent ten days visiting proposed and active data center sites across Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York, and what she found was a political backlash that has become one of the rare issues uniting Democrats and Republicans across the country.

Why Everyone Hates Data Centers (Even More Than Nuclear Plants)

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What you'll learn

1 (02:54) **Texas Regulating Data Centers? That's a Red Flag** - Taylor introduces the episode: a nationwide revolt against AI data centers unites left and right; guest Jasmine Sun spent 10 days on the front lines in Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York.
2 (04:00) **What a Hyper-Scale Data Center Actually Looks Like** - Jasmine describes the physical appearance of data centers from her reporting trip.
3 (06:05) **The Sound That Drives People Crazy** - Jasmine describes the noise pollution from these facilities.
4 (06:51) **Where They Build and Who Fights Them** - Jasmine explains the siting logic and the makeup of the anti-data center coalition.
5 (11:13) **Why Data Centers Are Hated More Than Nuclear Plants** - Jasmine explains the unique unpopularity of data centers compared to other industrial projects.
6 (15:32) **The AI Ambivalence Gap** - Jasmine explores the disconnect between AI usage and the backlash against its infrastructure.
7 (18:34) **Water Worries: Overblown or Real?** - Jasmine clarifies the environmental impact on water resources.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Jasmine Sun

Show Notes

Small towns across America are revolting against massive AI data centers.

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In this episode of Power User, journalist Jasmine Sun breaks down her on-the-ground reporting across Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York to uncover why Republicans and Democrats are joining forces to halt Big Tech’s infrastructure expansion.

From secret NDAs signed by local officials to skyrocketing electricity bills, strained power grids, and broken economic promises, we examine how the demands of generative AI are affecting local communities. We also dive into the real environmental impacts (from water consumption myths to the real problems related to natural gas) and discuss how the current compute buildout is creating a speculative bubble.

Jasmine gets into how distrust of Big Tech is shaping the AI backlash, why previous development failures like Foxconn still influence Midwestern communities, and what the United States can learn from China's approach to AI infrastructure.