A few years ago, most people had never heard the term "data center." Now the giant, warehouse-like buildings that house the servers and chips running services like ChatGPT and Claude have become one of the more unexpected flashpoints of the U.S. midterm election campaign.
There are about 12,250 data centers worldwide today, according to the tracking firm Data Center Map, up sharply from roughly 8,000 in 2021. They are most densely clustered in the United States, which hosts 4,767 sites, followed by Europe and then China — though China leads Europe by a wide margin on raw computing capacity, a gap expected to widen as the AI buildout continues.
Bigger, thirstier, noisier
The newest facilities dwarf anything built before. The world's largest operational data center, run by China Telecom in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, covers roughly one million square meters — about 140 FIFA football pitches — and even larger sites are under construction. One, part of xAI's Colossus campus in Memphis, will run on 41 methane gas turbines that activists say could "significantly increase" local air pollution, though regulators say the turbines will meet air-quality standards.
Collectively, data centers worldwide are estimated to consume more electricity than the whole of France, straining local power grids and, some economists worry, pushing up electricity prices for ordinary ratepayers nearby. The facilities also draw heavily on water for cooling, raising shortage concerns in some regions.
A political fight with real stakes on November 3
Sixteen U.S. states have proposed laws to ban or temporarily block new data centers, and the issue has become a live wire ahead of next week's midterm elections, with both Republicans and Democrats in some races coming out against further expansion. That puts opponents on a collision course with President Trump, who has dismissed the backlash as a "sick conspiracy" even as public anger grows. Beyond the U.S., opposition has emerged in Mexico, France, Indonesia and the UK.
Supporters counter that the facilities are critical to national security and economic competitiveness. A report from the Brookings Institution found data centers do create local jobs, though fewer than industry advocates often claim, with so-called hyperscale facilities run by companies like Amazon and Microsoft generating more benefit than "colocation" sites that simply lease space to remote tenants.
Where the industry goes from here
None of the controversy has slowed construction. The tech industry is expected to spend a combined $765 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026, a figure projected to top $1 trillion next year. Facing mounting local resistance, some companies are exploring more exotic alternatives — including putting data centers in orbit or on the Moon, where they could draw on abundant solar power without burdening any local grid at all.