Oregon governor blocks a data center land sale over local pushback

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek stopped a planned land sale in Salem to developer Verrus, halting a proposed data center project. The move follows growing state-level scrutiny of AI-driven data center expansion.

Why it matters: State and local governments are increasingly willing to intervene directly against data center projects over resource concerns like power, water, and land, not just study or regulate them after the fact. It's a concrete instance of the political friction that could slow the pace of AI infrastructure buildout in the US.