Google nixed plans for a gigantic $1 billion data center on more than 460 acres of land in Indiana after residents hotly protested the proposal due to concerns that the complex would jack up electricity prices for neighbors and suck away untold gallons of water in an area already plagued with drought.
The tech behemoth was planning to rezone the acreage for the data center, but then withdrew the plans at a raucous Monday meeting where the Indianapolis City Council was expected to vote on whether to approve the rezoning, according to NPR affiliate WFYI. Cheers reportedly broke out among the overflowing crowd when attorneys from Google said they were pulling out.
“We beat Google,” said one unidentified woman, quoted in a X video posted by progressive group More Perfect Union. “For a long time, we felt like four people with cardboard swords fighting a monster but tonight shows that people power still rings.”
“This was do-or-die,” another woman said in the video. “We came prepared to fight with everything we have against this data center.”
But this may just be a blip in a continuing struggle; Google can resubmit the proposal in as soon as three months from now, according to The Indianapolis Star; protesters said they will be on the look out if the project comes back from the dead.
“We’re going to be vigilant,” resident Andrew Filler told WFYI. “We’re going to protect our homes and keep our community game built up.”
Google proposed building the hyperscale data center earlier this year on farmland in the Franklin Township, which is part of Indianapolis, and instantly met with intense opposition from local residents. The meeting’s outcome was a culmination of months of protests and petitioning.
But even if Google decides not to build there, other tech companies have been looking at other locations in Indiana to build more data centers, such as a 1,500 acre Meta complex slated for the city of Lebanon, right outside Indianapolis. Tech companies have been drawn to Indiana for its relatively inexpensive and abundant land and tax incentives for corporations.
Data centers, especially ones that run AI, across the country have come under increasing scrutiny from the public who are concerned that residents will bear the brunt of these complexes, from water shortages to eye-popping electric bills.
Critics also charge that these data centers don’t employ nearly enough people to justify the environmental impact or any government incentives they may receive.
It’s not clear whether this particular data center in Indianapolis was going to be training or running AI models, but the local brouhaha is a microcosm of a larger debate happening right now: ordinary people feeling taken advantage of by tech companies that they don’t trust.
As the AI revolution and tech boom roll through, buckle up and expect more of these fights from an angry public.
More on data centers: There’s a Stunning Financial Problem With AI Data Centers
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