Michigan lawmakers question costs, power and accountability in ‘Stargate’ data center debate

Michigan lawmakers question costs, power and accountability in ‘Stargate’ data center debate

As the state moves towards one of the largest technology investments in its history, lawmakers and policy analysts are raising concerns about the implications of massive AI data centers for the state’s energy grid, ratepayers, and democratic governance. At the center of that discussion is a Stargate data center, a proposed multi-billion-dollar campus being developed by Related Digital, backed by OpenAI and Oracle. Announced in late 2025, the fac…

Data Centers Are Not “Campuses”

In recent months, a particular word has begun to circulate with striking insistence in press releases across the United States. Technology companies and government officials announce the construction of “data center campuses.” Not plants or factories or warehouses or complexes, but “campuses.”In October, OpenAI and Oracle unveiled a $7 billion data center in Michigan, celebrated as the state’s first “hyperscale campus.” Last month, officials in …

U-M–Los Alamos Supercomputer Pushback Reflects Michigan’s Growing Revolt Against Data Centers

ANN ARBOR – A proposed $1.2 billion high-performance computing facility backed by the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory has become the latest flashpoint in Michigan’s escalating backlash against data centers — a debate now centered as much on electric rates as on land use or environmental risk. The project, planned for Ypsilanti Township, is being promoted as a national-scale research asset focused on artificial intellige…