By Astra Taylor
Publication Date: 2026-05-08 14:00:00
SSince the surreal scene at the 2024 presidential inauguration, when a number of big tech titans took their VIP seats and signaled their new alliance with Maga, the Trump administration has rolled out the red carpet for Silicon Valley’s AI ambitions and shareholder priorities.
Washington has doled out billions of dollars in lucrative federal subsidies and contracts to the cash-rich sector, inflating an AI bubble that experts warn could endanger the entire economy, while banning any guardrails on the rapidly developing technology.
Luckily for all of us, an unlikely and fractious coalition has formed to resist the AI takeover and target the industry’s core infrastructure. In 2025, some 48 data center projects worth an estimated $156 billion were blocked or stalled by local opposition. All in all, 2026 looks set to be an even bigger year for AI resistance.
From our point of view, this is a good thing. But as the anti-data center movement grew, it came under fire from all sides, including…
