Voters in a California city ban AI data center construction, plans for Utah data center shrinking over backlash, Seattle issues one-year prohibition on center construction.
Posted by Leslie Eastman
In addition to some interesting developments in the Los Angeles primary — the results of which are yet to be completely determined — voters in the nearby city of Monterey Park had the chance to consider the fate of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers in the region.
They chose to ban them.
About 86 percent of voters in Monterey Park, Calif., voted in favor of the measure in Tuesday’s elections, according to election results from the county clerk.
The measure declares a prohibition on data centers citywide in order to “protect air quality, drinking water resources and public health” and “prevent impacts to electricity and water rates.”
It comes in response to a proposed data center project in Monterey Park, which was ultimately withdrawn earlier this year after the city council adopted a moratorium on data center construction.
Data center moratoriums and restrictions have gained traction across the country at the state and local level in the face of rising community pushback to the sprawling server warehouses that are central to the AI boom.
In first, California city overwhelmingly votes to permanently ban datacenters | Sanya Mansoor, The Guardian
Residents in Monterey Park, California, became the first in the US to vote on a permanent ban on datacenters on Tuesday, and early results indicate a resounding victory… pic.twitter.com/fXcCbFFJgu
— Owen Gregorian (@OwenGregorian) June 4, 2026
In the wake of backlash to a data center being in built in Utah, businessman Kevin O’Leary has agreed to cut the project area in half, from around 40,000 acres to around 20,000 acres.
Of the remaining 20,000 acres or so of the project area, around half would remain undeveloped and set aside as agricultural space or for wildlife, reducing the effective area facing development to 10,000 acres.
In a letter Thursday to Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, O’Leary said he’d remove two of the three proposed project areas from the data center initiative, one measuring around 19,430 acres in the Locomotive Springs area, another measuring around 620 acres abutting I-84. That would leave the third, more southeasterly parcel in the Hansel Valley, measuring around 20,000 acres.
“We agreed to remove the 19,000-plus in Locomotive and the 600 or so by the highway,” said Paul Palandjian, chief executive officer of O’Leary Digital, chaired by O’Leary and the business entity pursuing the initiative. “I think (that) addresses a lot of people’s concerns.”
“O’Leary shrinking Utah data center after backlash” – The Hill #SmartNews #Ban DATACENTERS https://t.co/YaV8BjKvmQ
— Sweet Tea (@LaurenSexyGirl) June 4, 2026
In Seattle, the city’s Land Use and Sustainability Committee voted unanimously this week to advance a moratorium on large-scale data centers.
If passed by the full City Council, the city would impose a one-year ban on data centers that use more than 20 megavolt-amperes, roughly equivalent to 20 megawatts. In that time, the city would study regulations that might allow large-scale data centers under certain conditions.
There were 30 public commenters at Wednesday’s meeting, the overwhelming majority who expressed concern about data centers’ electricity and water use, financial and environmental impacts, land use and noise. Several also voiced broader opposition to artificial intelligence.
Committee Chair Eddie Lin, who co-sponsored the moratorium bill, said he was concerned about the impact of “mega data centers” and how they may require the city to rely more on electricity generated from fossil fuels.
Amazon engineers in Seattle slam employer for building AI data centers while laying off 30,000 staffers | Annie Palmer, CNBC
Key Points
– Amazon engineers railed at their employer for conducting mass layoffs while committing to spend $200 billion this year on AI infrastructure,… pic.twitter.com/R4MgOJvLpX
— Owen Gregorian (@OwenGregorian) June 4, 2026
In the wake of these developments, it’s important to note that the House Energy and Commerce Committee asserts there is evidence that “strongly suggests” China and other foreign adversaries are fueling campaigns opposing data centers to undermine the U.S. in the artificial intelligence race.
Lawmakers on the panel urged in a new letter to the Trump administration to step up oversight of possible ties between China and anti-AI forces in the U.S., fretting that the international subterfuge could undermine American dominance.
“Our nation is locked in a race with China to innovate and lead the world in the development of Artificial Intelligence technologies,” House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) told The Post.
“The fact that Chinese Communist Party-backed entities and other foreign adversaries may be attempting to influence decisions related to American data center infrastructure puts into perspective how serious of a fight we are in.”
— REPORT: House Republicans warned that evidence “strongly suggests” China and other foreign adversaries may be helping fuel anti-data center campaigns in the United States in an effort to slow American AI development and gain an advantage in the global race for artificial… pic.twitter.com/UIMQViXbpO
— Belaaz News (@TheBelaaz) June 4, 2026
The local votes in Monterey Park and Seattle may look like ordinary civic environmentalism, but the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s warning reframes them in a far more sobering light.
Evidence “strongly suggests” that CCP-aligned entities and foreign adversaries are actively fueling campaigns to block American AI infrastructure, which is the same infrastructure Beijing is simultaneously subsidizing at home for its own AI competitors.
Paired with “virtue signaling” and NIMBY attitudes, these developments suggest that the future of AI in this country may not be quite what its promoters have advertised.
