More than 100 people gather at rally against AI data center construction
AI development companies are moving forward with plans to build large-scale AI data centers around the world. However, there has been opposition in the areas where the data centers are planned to be built, and on December 16, 2025, more than 100 people gathered at the Michigan State Capitol to hold a rally against the plans. Several state legislators also participated in the rally.
More than 100 rally against data centers at Michigan Capitol
Developing and running AI requires enormous computing power, and AI developers are purchasing large amounts of GPUs and memory to build large-scale data centers. For example, OpenAI is working with investors such as SoftBank Group to build Stargate , a data center construction project that will consume several gigawatts of power. Meta is also rapidly building a multi-gigawatt AI data center with the goal of starting operations in 2026, and Microsoft has also begun construction on Fairwater, which it claims will be the world's most powerful AI data center .
OpenAI and SoftBank announce plans to build five massive AI data centers in the US - GIGAZINE
Operating an AI data center requires a vast amount of land and electricity. It also requires large amounts of water to cool the GPUs and other computing devices. For this reason, concerns have been raised about power and water shortages in the areas where the center is planned to be built.
More than 100 people gathered at a rally against the construction of an AI data center at the Michigan State Capitol on December 16, 2025.
In Michigan, the Saline Township project, a data center construction project led by OpenAI and Oracle, is underway and has been approved by the state legislature. However, participants at the rally argued that the data center would require 1.4 gigawatts of electricity, that they could not trust OpenAI or Oracle to have Michigan's best interests in mind, and that it is unacceptable to sell off, lower the water levels, or pollute the Great Lakes' abundant water resources. They called for the project to be canceled.
Several state legislators, including Republican James DeSana and Democrat Reggie Miller, also attended the rally. 'The whole state of Michigan needs to step up,' DeSana said. 'Data centers could be coming to your area. You might be thinking, 'I'm safe now because there aren't any data centers near me,' but they're coming soon.' He expressed his sense of crisis about the ever-increasing number of data centers.
Building data centers requires a large amount of hardware, and OpenAI has signed contracts with hardware manufacturers such as Samsung and SK Hynix to ensure stable supplies . This hardware buying spree by AI companies has led to a rapid rise in the price of memory for general consumers . Even as of December 2025, news reports of rising memory prices have been coming in daily, including Micron withdrawing from its consumer business to focus on data center demand and Samsung announcing a doubling of the price of DDR5 memory.
Samsung raises DDR5 memory prices by more than 100% - GIGAZINE
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