The City Council of Chandler, Arizona unanimously rejected a project to build an artificial intelligence data center on Thursday, bringing an end to the controversy that had drawn in heavyweights from Silicon Valley and Washington, and sending a sharp warning signal to large technology companies. The lobbying efforts surrounding the project included Microsoft and Meta, with multiple parties exerting external political pressure to approve the project, with perhaps the largest pressure coming from former Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema. This highlights the efforts of the artificial intelligence industry to influence development decisions at the local level. Despite the push from the Trump administration and large AI companies such as Meta and Microsoft for the construction of data centers and new energy infrastructure to power them, opposition from local governments has been increasing. Several cities in Arizona, including Phoenix and Tucson, have established specific zoning regulations for data centers or introduced new requirements for related facilities. At the same time, local officials in Oregon, Missouri, Virginia, Arizona, and Indiana have also rejected some proposals for data center construction.
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Original article: toutiao.com/article/1851373890831370/
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