At least 37 people arrested in 2026 so far for protesting against data centers, most for breaking ‘petty rules’ — most taken into custody acted peacefully
 At least 37 people arrested in 2026 so far for protesting against data centers, most for breaking ‘petty rules’ — most taken into custody acted peacefully

Data center protesters are getting arrested for minor infractions, yet they continue pushing back against these projects. Aside from the arrests, there’s also at least 12 instances (probably more) where the police were called to intervene between politicians and protesters.

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SpaceX won’t remove all of xAI’s unpermitted turbines for another year

SpaceX is building a new power plant for xAI’s Colossus data centers, but it won’t remove existing, unpermitted turbines for many more months.

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Startup plans to put nuclear-powered data centers in the sea — modular units could be much faster to deploy, but questions about reliability and longevity remain
 Startup plans to put nuclear-powered data centers in the sea — modular units could be much faster to deploy, but questions about reliability and longevity remain

Atomarine wants to put data centers on modular barges for ocean-based deployments. The firm says these can be powered by LNG-powered ships and seamlessly swap to ship-based SMRs when they become available.

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30 Georgia homes are being acquired via sale or eminent domain to expand power grid — one affected family member says it’s ‘for the data centers’
 30 Georgia homes are being acquired via sale or eminent domain to expand power grid — one affected family member says it’s ‘for the data centers’

Georgia’s largest power supply company is reclaiming 30 homes that lay in the path of its power line expansion project through sale or eminent domain. The company says the project is not for a data center, but the substation the line is connecting to sits less than five miles from a massive data center.

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Pennsylvania town lists 43 specific demands to approve new AI data center project — developer calls local demands ‘too difficult’ as council slams response as ‘approval by tantrum’

One township in Pennsylvania gave a specific list of demands for a data center developer to follow if they want to build their project in the area. Instead, they retracted their initial application and sent in a second one challenging the regulations.

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Teacher arrested for clapping in support of opposition at an AI data center meeting — gigawatt-scale project gets approved anyway despite community resistance
 Teacher arrested for clapping in support of opposition at an AI data center meeting — gigawatt-scale project gets approved anyway despite community resistance

A Physics teacher was arrested for clapping multiple times during a public hearing to rezone land for a proposed gigawatt-scale data center near Emporia, Kansas. The man refused to cooperate when the police asked him to leave and was subsequently dragged out of the venue by four officers.

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Data centers may face temporary power cuts to prevent blackouts on largest US grid

The largest grid operator in the U.S. says it will cut power to large data centers to prevent blackouts starting next year.

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Nvidia weighs $250 billion guarantee so OpenAI can lease SoftBank’s 10-gigawatt Ohio campus, report claims — Nvidia also said to be discussing $350 billion deal to finance chips for the site

OpenAI is in advanced talks to lease SB Energy’s 10 GW data center campus in Piketon, Ohio, with Nvidia in discussions to guarantee roughly $250 billion of the financing behind it.

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‘It sounds like someone set up a vacuum, like in your living room’: Michigan residents sue AI data center emitting noise 24/7 — company fined for industrial noise ordinance violations, offers to buy homes from residents

Residents of Dowagiac, Michigan, filed a case against a data center for generating noise pollution 24/7 for over two years. They said that the site has violated city noise ordinances but hasn’t made any improvements.

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One fallen power line exposed a growing AI data center problem. Here’s how to fix it.

A close call in Northern Virginia revealed just how poorly data centers respond to grid disruptions. Here’s how to fix the problem.

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