Trump ignores biggest reasons his AI data center buildout is failing - Ars Technica

Overview

Trump ignores biggest reasons his AI data center buildout is failing

Nearly 50% of data center projects delayed as China holds key to power infrastructure.

Details

Donald Trump is facing significant hurdles after declaring, in a series of executive orders last year, that rapid construction of AI data centers was among his top priorities to ensure the US wins the AI race against China.

Perhaps most likely to frustrate the president, his aggressive tariffs on Chinese imports are reportedly hindering most data center projects.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that “almost half of the US data centers planned for this year are expected to be delayed or canceled” because developers can’t import enough transformers, switchgear, and batteries to build out the power infrastructure that every data center needs.

These parts, which China has primarily manufactured for US manufacturers “for decades,” used to take between 24 and 30 months to get delivered prior to 2020. Now, they can require wait times up to five years, Bloomberg reported. That lag could matter, since China is reportedly about five years behind the US in the AI race.

Rather than rely on China, Trump would prefer that the US manufacture its own equipment. However, currently, “US manufacturing capacity for these devices cannot keep up with demand,” Bloomberg reported.

Analysts at the market intelligence firm Sightline Climate told Bloomberg that “only a third” of the largest AI data centers that are supposed to come online in 2026 are “currently under construction.” For firms feeling “hamstrung” by the circumstances, many are willing to pay tariffs and take on alleged national security risks to try to get the goods from China on faster timelines.

Trump seems to be avoiding this harsh reality. In March, he didn’t mention the power infrastructure problem when ordering tech companies to “build, bring, or buy” the power for their data centers. But data center builders can’t as easily ignore the fact that it doesn’t matter where the power comes from if there’s nothing to plug in.

For Trump, the March order requiring firms to pay power bills was meant to address concerns in communities that increasingly oppose any data center construction that might spike electricity costs in areas neighboring facilities.

But Trump is seemingly losing ground fast on that front, too, as community fears that extend beyond utility costs are helping enact moratoriums on data center construction gain traction at local, state, and national levels.

Last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N. Y.) announced the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Data Center Moratorium Act, which they said “would enact a reasonable pause to the development of AI to ensure the safety of humanity.” Among the requirements to lift the moratorium, if passed, is a national safeguard ensuring that “AI does not increase electricity or utility prices, harm communities, or destroy the environment.”

At the state level, Maine is “poised” to become the first to pause all data center construction, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Local stakeholders think it’s a “foregone conclusion” that the bill will pass, WSJ reported, and that it will most likely ban any substantial new AI data center construction until 2027. That delay will give state lawmakers a chance to “assess the impact of such development on the environment and electricity grid,” the WSJ reported, so communities won’t have to enter into agreements with data center builders blindly.

Maine residents already deal with “some of the country’s highest residential electricity prices,” the WSJ noted, which is likely why communities have urgently pushed for the measure. At least 10 other states are closely watching as the legislation advances there. While no major city has yet passed a moratorium, Denver and Dallas are mulling similar bans. Meanwhile, smaller cities and municipalities in Indiana and Michigan have already imposed “temporary pauses,” the WSJ reported.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle for Trump and Republicans across the board ahead of midterms won’t be how hard people’s pocketbooks are getting hit. Rather, it could just be the general bad vibes about what all these data centers Trump is racing to build will mean for communities that don’t want their lives changed by a rushed buildout.

On Friday, Axios reported results from a Harvard/MIT poll that found Americans are more worried about how “giant projects might alter their communities” and “quality of life” than they are about rising utility bills. That poll comes on the back of recent research that studied land surface temperatures around AI data centers and found the facilities could drastically increase temperatures in communities, Gizmodo reported, creating so-called “heat islands.”

“Heating up the entire neighborhood” could impact rainfall patterns, “worsen pollution, and even have a direct, disproportionate link to heat-related deaths,” Gizmodo reported.

Communities are increasingly protesting construction nationwide, with some firms facing lawsuits from longtime landowners who fear that data centers will forever change their most treasured corners of America.

Tony Buxton, a climate and energy attorney at a legal and lobbying firm in Maine, told the WSJ that opposition to AI data centers in the state is unlikely to subside. He joined others forecasting that the state’s moratorium would likely pass as the bipartisan bill advances to a majority Democratic Senate and the governor signals intent to sign.

“That’s the political reality,” Buxton said. “There is a very strong voter fear of data centers and AI.”

On Bluesky, the Athena Coalition, a group representing dozens of grassroots organizations seeking to protect the planet from Amazon’s operations, celebrated Maine’s efforts to research potential impacts before approving data center construction statewide.

“Proof that data center development isn’t inevitable!” the Athena Coalition posted.

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Key Takeaways

• Trump ignores biggest reasons his AI data center buildout is failing

• Nearly 50% of data center projects delayed as China holds key to power infrastructure

• Donald Trump is facing significant hurdles after declaring, in a series of executive orders last year, that rapid construction of AI data centers was among his top priorities to ensure the US wins the AI race against China

• Perhaps most likely to frustrate the president, his aggressive tariffs on Chinese imports are reportedly hindering most data center projects

• Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that “almost half of the US data centers planned for this year are expected to be delayed or canceled” because developers can’t import enough transformers, switchgear, and batteries to build out the power infrastructure that every data center needs