We are obviously pro-data centers at UP, and if local communities don’t want them, here’s a smart place to build them, as explained by our UP senior fellow Tomas Philipson:

Fifty-two percent of U.S. workers use AI on the job, and 15% use it daily, according to Gallup. McKinsey & Company finds that nearly 90% of organizations use AI for at least one function… It’s no wonder that investment in AI data centers has exploded, with computing infrastructure reaching 1.5% of gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2026…

Yet roughly 70% of Americans say they oppose data centers being sited near them…

State and local governments are blocking data centers to avoid the perceived local costs of a technology that half of working Americans use. To resolve the free-rider problem, put servers on vacant federal land and keep the rules flexible as the centers shrink.