Anti-AI data center protesters rally across the US

America's anti-data center movement went national on Saturday.

Protesters across the US rallied against the hulking facilities as part of a nationwide demonstration organized by Humans First, a newly founded conservative nonprofit taking on what it calls "Big AI."

The group planned more than 100 demonstrations throughout the day, from Wasilla in southcentral Alaska to the sunny shores of Naples, Florida. Many states had multiple protests scheduled, including 18 in Texas, where available land, access to an electricity grid, and potential tax breaks have turned it into a prime destination for companies building AI data centers.

New Jersey hosted two protests, including one in the small borough of Kenilworth. A crowd gathered outside the local municipal court around 10 a.m. to push back against an incoming $1.8 billion AI data center.

The local planning board approved the project last May, but it has faced growing opposition since. A petition to halt construction in April gained over 12,000 signatures. About 8,500 people live in Kenilworth, according to the latest census.

"You think this is pressure? Wait 'til there's no water pressure," one protest sign read. Another: "Build community, not data centers."

Some residents arrived with noise makers — plastic horns, whistles, a drum — while others brought colored chalk to tag the nearby sidewalks. They were undeterred as heavy rain fell later in the day. Donning ponchos and sharing umbrellas, the protesters continued to chant and march.

Grassroots efforts

Humans First is led by Amy Kremer, a MAGA darling who has been at the center of some of the most prominent conservative movements since 2009. A former Tea Party member, she cofounded Women for Trump and participated in the Republican National Committee.

She also helped organize the January 6 rally for President Donald Trump in 2021, which later devolved into a riot at the US Capitol. (Kremer neither planned nor participated in the riot.)

In an earlier interview with Business Insider, Kremer said she's now using her skills as a grassroots organizer to take on the AI industry.

"I think this is the most important fight of our lifetime," Kremer said last month. "This technology could wipe us off the face of the planet."

The nonprofit advocates an "America First" approach to AI that centers everyday residents in the conversation and empowers them to decide how the technology is developed over time.

"This technology has been built on American data with American taxpayer dollars invested into these companies with American energy and American land," Kremer said. "We have no voice in how the technology is used or how it impacts our lives, and that's not right."

On Saturday, Kremer thanked those who volunteered their time and energy to the demonstrations.

"The data center boom has been sold as inevitable. It is not. Communities have every right to ask what they are giving up and what they are getting in return. America is not for sale, and our communities are not collateral," Kremer wrote on X.

The AI divide

Tech leaders have made some grand promises about AI. They have said it will turbocharge the economy, accelerate scientific progress, cure disease, and unburden humans from mundane work.

AI, however, can only advance so far without large data centers, which provide the computing power to run and train the technology. Companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and Meta rely on data centers to keep their AI products afloat. For them, data centers are essential.

More than 1,400 AI data centers had already been built or approved for construction by the end of 2025. Many more have been proposed in 2026.

AI evangelists say America needs large data centers to support the technology, bolster national security, and gain a competitive edge against China, where researchers are nipping at the heels of the most well-heeled American labs. They also say that hyperscale data centers promote economic growth and create new jobs, particularly during construction.

Critics, however, aren't sure the rewards outweigh the risks.

Many are concerned that AI data centers cause environmental damage, raise electricity bills, drain water, and degrade the overall quality of life in the communities where they are built.

Some Americans have also criticized their local governments and developers for what they say is a lack of transparency around the approval process. Others simply don't like AI, which some prominent AI leaders have repeatedly warned could gut white-collar jobs.

In recent months, Americans opposing data centers have launched petitions, swarmed planning meetings, and taken legal action to stop construction. Some cities and towns, and even states, have paused construction, while others have banned new data centers altogether. At the federal level, Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders have called for a nationwide moratorium.

While the backlash against AI data centers is bipartisan, Americans don't always agree on the path to preventing them.

"We do not believe in a nationwide moratorium or even a statewide moratorium. We believe that each community should have a choice in what they put in their community," Kremer said. "And that's not happening in a lot of places. It's being done behind closed doors."

Tech companies have found favor with President Donald Trump, who has made advancing AI a central part of his agenda. The Trump administration backed the Stargate Project, a $500 billion initiative to build more data centers and accelerate federal permitting.

"I guarantee you that when Republicans are no longer controlling all the chambers, they're going to be cozying up to the Democrats because, at the end of the day, all they care about is power and control," Kremer said, referring to tech leaders.

Kremer, however, defended Trump. She says the responsibility falls on Congress.

"It's Congress's responsibility, and they need to get their act together and listen to and protect the American people," Kremer said. "President Trump's executive orders, and his most recent executive order on testing frontier AI systems, need to go further."