**A 10-year moratorium** on state-level AI regulation included in President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” has brushed up against a mounting battle over the growth of data centers.
“This isn’t a conspiracy theory; this was a recent issue in my Congressional district,” he wrote of concerns over the placement of data centers. “It was resolved at the local level because local officials had leverage. The big beautiful bill undermines the ability of local communities to decide where the AI data centers will be built.”
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**A 10-year moratorium** on state-level AI regulation included in President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” has brushed up against a mounting battle over the growth of data centers.
On Thursday, Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, [posted on X](https://x.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1930650098293248302) that the megabill’s 10-year block on states regulating artificial intelligence could “make it easier for corporations to get zoning variances, so massive AI data centers could be built in close proximity to residential areas.” Massie, who did not vote for the bill, followed up his initial tweet with a screenshot of a [story](https://eu.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2025/06/02/new-location-proposed-for-6-billion-data-center-in-oldham-county/83997706007/) on a proposed data center in Oldham County, Kentucky, which downsized and changed locations following local pushback.
“This isn’t a conspiracy theory; this was a recent issue in my Congressional district,” he wrote of concerns over the placement of data centers. “It was resolved at the local level because local officials had leverage. The big beautiful bill undermines the ability of local communities to decide where the AI data centers will be built.”
Since its introduction in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the AI moratorium has drawn widespread criticism, including [from some major AI companies](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/opinion/anthropic-ceo-regulate-transparency.html), for what [some say](https://www.citizen.org/article/stop-ai-preemption-protect-the-public-from-corporate-harm/) is a heavy-handed regulation of all state AI laws for the next decade. On the other hand, supporters of the moratorium—including White House AI adviser and venture capital investor [David Sacks](https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/1930049764080452038)—say that the proliferation of state-level AI laws is creating a patchwork of policies that will stifle innovation if they continue to be passed.
Read more: [https://www.wired.com/story/a-political-battle-is-brewing-over-data-centers/](https://www.wired.com/story/a-political-battle-is-brewing-over-data-centers/)