Data Center Backlash Isn’t Killing AI Spending. It’s Changing Where the Money Goes.

What happened: Organized opposition delayed or blocked an estimated $130 billion in U.S. data-center projects in the first quarter of 2026, and New York enacted the first statewide moratorium on new hyperscale facilities. Why it matters: The article says the backlash is rerouting AI dollars toward firms that build, wire, and power data centers on-site, and that demand behind the buildout is locked in through long-term commitments that even a rate-driven selloff in leveraged AI names has not touched. Market: -6.3% today ($221.33), +124.3% YTD, 1.0x vol — as of 22:46 UTC

Organized opposition delayed or blocked an estimated $130 billion in U.S. data-center projects in the first quarter of 2026, and New York enacted the first statewide moratorium on new hyperscale facilities.

The article says the backlash is rerouting AI dollars toward firms that build, wire, and power data centers on-site, and that demand behind the buildout is locked in through long-term commitments that even a rate-driven selloff in leveraged AI names has not touched. Market: -6.3% today ($221.33), +124.3% YTD, 1.0x vol — as of 22:46 UTC