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The fight against AI data centers is just beginning

mingooland
2 min read
The fight against AI data centers is just beginning
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A yard sign opposing a planned data center is displayed along Route 54 in Mount Carmel Township Northumberland County.
A yard sign opposing a planned data center is displayed along Route 54 in Mount Carmel Township Northumberland County. | Image: Getty Images

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How it started

Years before the AI boom threatened local power grids, a small group of protesters set the stage for the battles cropping up across communities today. In 2015, Apple announced plans to build a roughly $1 billion data center in the sleepy town of Athenry, Ireland. The data center’s 500-acre site would power Apple’s services in Europe, including iTunes, iMessage, and Siri. At the time, Apple said the data center would offer outdoor education spaces, walking trails, and an initiative to replant native trees. It would also use 100 percent renewable energy. With the approval from the local government and plans to give back to the community, Apple likely didn’t anticipate the lengthy battle it was about to face.

Apple’s building plans were quickly derailed after Irish residents lodged complaints to the country’s independent planning board about the expected noise, light pollution, flooding, traffic, and impact on local wildlife. While the board ultimately approved Apple’s facility in 2016, the fight didn’t end there, as residents applied for judicial review of the board’s decision in the Irish High Court. In 2017, the Irish High Court ruled in favor of Apple, but the pair of activists behind the appeal wanted to bring the decision before Ireland’s Supreme Court — and that was finally enough for Apple to call it quits.

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