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It may not be as shocking as rogue AI agents hacking another system, but the current political resistance to data centers has taken a surprising turn: It’s bringing together strange bedfellows, from democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders to right-wing strategist Steve Bannon.

Organized opposition to new data centers, made up of a coalition of varied interests, has spread across the nation. Through protests, packed zoning commission meetings, moratoriums, and other government action, the resistance has upended dozens of proposed projects.

Data centers are key components in artificial intelligence infrastructure, housing the computing resources used to train AI models. They’re also massive facilities that require extraordinary amounts of energy. By 2030, U.S. data center electricity use is expected to reach 12% of the nation’s total consumption.

They carry some benefits.…