US President Donald Trump has condemned a year-long New York state moratorium on building data centres, which was announced by Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday.
"New York should change its policy, immediately," Mr Trump posted on Truth Social.
"The radical left dumocrats must not be allowed to cause us to lose data centres, AI, and all of this incredible new technology to China, and other countries."
The US leads the world in the number of data centres, but the rapid construction of new sites has caused opposition in some locations.
Some have blamed data centres for rising electricity costs throughout the country, environmental damage and sound pollution, among other things.
Polling, including Republican and Democratic voters, has shown a rising opposition to data centres.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle have also expressed concern about residential rights being ignored as more data centres are built and proposed.
In a video posted on social media, Ms Hochul says the unprecedented pace of data centre construction has placed major demands on energy and water resources.
"Before it goes any further, I need safeguards in place to protect New Yorkers," she says in the video.
Although Mr Trump had harsh words for Ms Hochul, over the past year his administration has taken methodical approaches amid rising concern over data centres.
In February, Mr Trump promoted a ratepayer protection pledge, and said that several AI, technology and data centre companies had agreed to verbally commit to providing for their own power needs.
A month prior, he and Pennsylvania's Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro highlighted an effort to pressure PJM Interconnection, a corporation that transmits electricity throughout much of the US, to make a temporary overhaul to address rising electricity bills.
Even in his Truth Social post on Wednesday, Mr Trump seemed to acknowledged what many citizens are demanding of data centre operators.
"They must pay for their own water and power, and any leftover goes back to the state and local community," he wrote.
Kevin Frazier, a senior fellow at the Abundance Institute, a non-profit organisation that supports emerging technologies, said Ms Hochul's moratorium on data centres is short-sighted.
"New York may initiate a trend among governors to take unilateral action that results in more states closing their borders to AI infrastructure that is crucial to our economic and national security," Mr Frazier said.
Meanwhile, in a recent panel discussion at the Amazon Web Services Summit in Washington, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright urged those in attendance to have conversations with data centre critics, and seek to correct what he viewed as misinformation about the sites.
He also encouraged those in attendance to highlight the economic benefits of building the centres.
“You should be over-the-top proud of what you're doing, so please share a little bit of that humbly and nicely, but share a little bit of that pride, and those facts with everyone around you,” Mr Wright said.
Data centre proponents may still be facing an uphill battle to win over hearts and minds.
According to a recent poll firm Gallup, seven in 10 Americans oppose the construction of the centres near their homes.
