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Jasmine W.

2026-08-03 · 19:44 UTC ·@ahall_research ·0 min read

Brief

Jasmine W. Sun's feature, "No Data Centers In My Backyard," examines the complex, place-based political backlash to data center construction amid the AI boom, tying local resentment to wider issues of money, power, and cultural dislocation. Taylor Lorenz highlights the piece's warning that unresolved cultural grievances will make opposition recur in new forms.

Why it matters

Jasmine W. Sun's long read "No Data Centers In My Backyard" frames political backlash to data centers as rooted in money, power, and populism during the AI buildout.

Key details

  • Taylor Lorenz quotes the piece (Aug 3, 2026), arguing that unless deeper cultural problems are fixed, opposition will reappear: people are "this angry at a building sitting and paying taxes on unused land."
Source evidence

Phenomenal piece by @jasminewsun with real texture on the political backlash to data centers---which is more complicated and nuanced than you might think!

Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz)

"Until the deeper cultural problems are addressed, the data center backlash will only recreate itself in other forms. If people are this angry at a building sitting and paying taxes on unused land, something deep has gone very wrong." jasmi.news/p/no-data-centers…

Link

No Data Centers In My Backyard

money, power, and populism in the AI buildout
jasmi.news

— https://nitter.net/TaylorLorenz/status/2084360224262279533#m