<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2Ocm8U_1H3CZE3m00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2Ocm8U_1H3CZE3m00" width="2001" height="1126" ></figure><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3VeC1m_1H3CZE3m00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3VeC1m_1H3CZE3m00" width="900" height="1200" ><figcaption>POWERFUL DUO: Sherry Keller (left) and Sara Kennedy (right) stand together in front of the Conyers Assembly Hall, holding signs to contribute to protesting the proposal of an AI data center. ( CREDIT: Sara Kennedy )</figcaption></figure>As Georgia experiences a surge in artificial intelligence and data center development, local residents, community advocates and elected officials are debating how these massive facilities could reshape neighborhoods across the state.Data centers, which power artificial intelligence systems and digital services, have become a growing presence throughout Georgia and Metro-Atlanta. Supporters point to economic development opportunities, while many critics and residents argue the projects harm create long-term challenges for nearby communities.Sara Kennedy, a Rockdale County resident involved in local data center opposition efforts, said a hyperscale data center was planning to be built alarmingly close to her neighborhood.“My residential neighborhood has about 80 people, and this situation is pretty terrifying because what you’re talking about is disturbing everyone’s quality of life and county laws,” Kennedy said. “It’s a very quiet neighborhood. We have the water, and a lot of people in our neighborhood are gardeners.”In response, Kennedy has been actively protesting against the project for months. It started with a discovery in May.“I was reading an article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about how the BioLab case had just gone to the Georgia Supreme Court,” Kennedy said. ”The next article was that DC Blox has a data center in Conyers and is proposing a second one, and I had no idea there was even a first one. I’ve lived here for 20 years.”According to Kennedy, residents in her county had no awareness of the development of AI data centers which pose a threat to many factors in people’s everyday lives, and are significant enough to be aware of. “I immediately started calling everyone I could think of,” Kennedy said. “I called schools, the sheriff’s department, the Board of Health and the county, asking, ‘What is this? Why don’t we know anything about it?’” It wasn’t until a county public meeting was given that Kennedy said she became even more concerned about the development of AI data centers which are closer than she even imagined to people’s properties. “They were giving a public meeting about the project and said they had been involved in this for a year and a half.” Kennedy said. “That was when I found out how big this thing was going to be and that it was literally, in some instances, less than 500 feet behind people’s property lines.” Despite all of the disruption and threats these AI data centers pose, Kennedy emphasized it wasn’t enough to keep residents from fighting back and succeeding.“The county’s intention was to be done with this deal the third week of May; we’ve held them up for about six months now,” Kennedy said.</div></body>

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As Georgia experiences a surge in artificial intelligence and data center development, local residents, community advocates and elected officials are debating how these massive facilities could reshape neighborhoods across the state. Data centers, which power artificial intelligence systems and digital services, have become a growing presence throughout Georgia and Metro-Atlanta....

AI data centers expand, concerns rise

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As Georgia experiences a surge in artificial intelligence and data center development, local residents, community advocates and elected officials are debat

AI data centers expand, concerns rise

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