Arizona city rejects data center after AI lobbying push

CHANDLER, Arizona — This Arizona suburb sent a searing warning message to Big Tech companies after city officials on Thursday night unanimously rejected a proposed artificial intelligence data center — capping a fight that attracted powerful interests from Silicon Valley and Washington.

Outside political pressure to approve the project, perhaps most significantly from former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, shined a spotlight on AI industry efforts to influence local decisions around development.

The Chandler City Council last night voted down a request by a New York developer to rezone land to build a data center and business complex. The local battle escalated in October after Sinema showed up at a planning commission meeting to offer public comment warning officials in her home state that federal authority may soon stomp on local regulations.

“Chandler right now has the opportunity to determine how and when these new, innovative AI data centers will be built,” she told local officials. “When federal preemption comes, we’ll no longer have that privilege.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/12/arizona-city-rejects-data-center-after-ai-lobbying-push-00688543