Organizations in all 50 states want lawmakers to support a national moratorium that would halt the approval and construction of new data centers until "adequate regulations" for the burgeoning industry are in place. Data centers, which house computer systems that help train AI models, are blanketing the country, a boom fueled by surging interest in AI and state tax breaks. More than 4,000 are already in operation, mostly in Virginia, Texas, and California, and 3,000 more are being planned or under. Lawmakers in at least 11 states—Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin—have introduced legislation this session that would temporarily ban data centers, according to Good Jobs First, a watchdog group that focuses. President Donald Trump's executive order, "Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure," underscores the federal government's recognition that securing US technological supremacy is a national priority.
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