Florida data center protest shows conservative AI backlash
A small Hernando County rally was part of nearly 150 Humans First-linked protests against AI data center expansion, The Verge reported.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
2 min read
A conservative-led campaign against AI data center construction is drawing local protests, including a small rally in Hernando County, Florida, where opponents want officials to go beyond a temporary pause. The fight matters because it shows how concern over data centers has spread from environmental and land-use disputes into broader arguments over AI, jobs, daily life and China, according to The Verge.
The Verge reported that fewer than a dozen people gathered outside the Spring Hill Branch Library on a humid Saturday morning to oppose a proposed hyperscale data center in their community. Hernando County commissioners had already voted unanimously in June for a one-year moratorium on such projects, but local organizers said they wanted a permanent ban.
The local group, No Data Centers Hernando County, had flyers and a petition it planned to take to local government, according to The Verge. One organizer identified by The Verge as Carol, a 71-year-old retired country music radio host and conservative Floridian, said the group intended to keep fighting the project.
Carol told The Verge she was worried about constant noise from a nearby data center. She also raised environmental concerns, including a claim that frequencies from data centers harm bees and other pollinators; The Verge described some of the harms cited at the event as more questionable than others.
The protest also reflected anxiety about AI itself, not only the buildings needed to run it. Carol told The Verge she knew a woman who had cut off friends after using ChatGPT and said that person consulted the chatbot on daily routines and personal relationships.
The Hernando County event was one piece of a wider campaign. The Verge reported that the rally was among nearly 150 protests affiliated with Humans First, a group that describes itself as a conservative social movement focused on keeping the future of AI “in the hands of everyday people.”
An AFP via Getty Images photo cited by The Verge showed a person holding signs during a nationwide protest against AI data center expansion outside Peace Hall in New Port Richey, Florida. The Hernando County protest took place in the same broader Tampa-area region.
The Verge reported that the conservative backlash to data centers centers on several issues: employment, environmental effects, quality of life and China. In Hernando County, the immediate demand was local and concrete: stop hyperscale data centers from being built after the moratorium expires.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.