On the road again, following the AI data center trail

From Michigan to Texas, two more rural communities grappling with mega AI data centers planned for their farmland

Even with all the news dropping in AI this week, my Fortune editors were kind enough to let me go on an extended reporting trip for the series on the mega AI data center boom I’ve been working on (my article on Arizona ran in December and my feature about Meta’s Hyperion site in northeast Louisiana will publish in a couple of weeks). These next two stories should publish in the next month or two.

Saline Township, Michigan: A $7B AI data center collides with rural farmland

First, I headed to Saline Township, Michigan, which is a centuries-old farming community outside of Ann Arbor. A massive $7 billion AI data center backed by developers tied to Related Companies founder Stephen Ross and partners including OpenAI and Oracle, was initially rejected by the township board after residents raised concerns about power demand, water use and the loss of agricultural land. But the developers and landowners sued, arguing the township’s zoning effectively blocked data centers altogether. Facing a costly legal battle, local officials quickly settled the lawsuit and agreed to allow the project to move forward under a consent agreement that includes farmland preservation funding and other concessions—an outcome that has left many residents feeling the town was forced to accept a hyperscale AI facility it didn’t want.

Now, there are 300 trucks hauling dirt to and from the over 500-acre site three times a day as construction heats up.

I visited one of the project’s most vocal critics, Kathryn Haushalter, a former US marine and mother of five, who lives on a 60-acre property across the road from the data center. Haushalter filed a motion to join the lawsuit tied to the data center project, but a judge ultimately denied her request to intervene in the case. She is particularly concerned with the environmental effects the data center could have on her well water, the farming soil and the health of her children.

I was amazed at the classic red barns all over Saline Township:

And you can already see the work happening on the site:

I also attended a Town Hall meeting where council members heard from a local consultant, Barry Lonik, who specializes in conservation easements, which are one of the main tools farmers can use to protect agricultural land as development pressure rises. It doesn’t help with the data center already underway, but could help the community prevent more projects coming to the area.

Ross, Texas: When a neighboring city controls the data center vote

Next, I flew to Austin, Texas and then drove north to visit a proposed data center site near Ross, Texas, outside Waco, which has become a local flashpoint because the project’s fate is largely being decided not by Ross itself but by the nearby city of Lacy Lakeview, whose extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) covers the rural land where the facility would be built.

Developers are seeking annexation and zoning approvals from Lacy Lakeview for what residents say could become yet another massive AI data center campus on agricultural land, raising concerns among nearby farmers about noise, power infrastructure, water use and the long-term industrialization of the area.

The situation has created tension in McLennan County, with some Ross-area landowners arguing that a neighboring city effectively holds the power to approve a project that could reshape their rural community—even as officials and economic development advocates emphasize the potential for jobs and long-term investment tied to the AI infrastructure boom.

There are signs from the opposition all over Ross:

At the moment, the proposed site is beautiful grazing and farmland that has been sold to a developer:

I visited one of the members of the opposition community, who introduced me to her family’s beautiful cows. Her land is directly adjacent to the data center site.

I have more meetings today in Lacy Lakeview and Ross, and then tomorrow it’s back to Austin for something totally different: I’ll be moderating a fascinating panel at the SXSW conference on how AI is learning to code biology.

Meanwhile, I’m enjoying the fabulous early-spring weather here in Texas. Have a wonderful weekend!