Silicon Valley promised that artificial intelligence would live seamlessly in the cloud. Instead, it landed heavily in America’s backyards. This physical intrusion sparked a bipartisan grassroots revolt that has already stalled over $130 billion in infrastructure projects. The assets that were once Wall Street’s ultimate growth darlings have hit a wall of public fury, political bans, and a fracturing power grid.

The shift in market sentiment is stark. Five years ago, municipalities actively competed to attract data center developments. Local councils offered generous tax abatements and accelerated zoning tracks. Today, the landscape is defined by friction. Local resistance coalitions have rapidly multiplied across 49 states. Local governments are responding to public pressure by enacting strict size limits, building moratoriums, or imposing outright development bans.

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What caused this dramatic reversal? The answer lies in the harsh constraints of the physical world.

For years, technology companies maintained the illusion of clean, frictionless growth. But processing vast amounts of automated computation requires a massive physical footprint. It demands an unprecedented volume of electrical power and millions of gallons of water for daily cooling operations. A single modern data center........

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