Voters in at least 29 U.S. jurisdictions approved bans or restrictions on data-center development in Tuesday's elections, according to The Washington Post, dealing a fresh setback to the massive infrastructure buildout underpinning artificial intelligence.

The measures ranged from outright prohibitions to requirements for additional public approval. Some were nonbinding advisory votes, meaning their passage does not automatically halt construction. Still, victories by candidates who favor moratoriums could pave the way for tougher statewide rules.

Ballotpedia tracked 41 data-center measures on November 3 ballots across 10 states. Twenty-eight were framed so that a "yes" vote would curb development, while 13 would permit or support projects, meaning that rejecting one of the latter could also count as a defeat for developers.

Ohio Leads the Backlash

Ohio produced some of the clearest results. All 10 charter measures backed by the grassroots group Conserve Ohio passed, according to the Post, and more than three-quarters of voters in Hubbard, Ohio, supported a ban on data centers. Opposition ran so strong that voters in Granville, Trenton, and Sunbury backed restrictions with margins of roughly 78% to 82%.

In Illinois, nearly 80% of voters in Joliet Township rejected an advisory proposal supporting AI data centers. In Janesville, Wisconsin, more than 60% approved a requirement for another public vote before major development at a former General Motors site linked to a proposed data center.

Data centers house the chips and servers used to train and run AI systems. Their appetite for electricity has turned proposed campuses into local fights over utility bills and grid capacity, while opponents also raise concerns about water use, noise, and deals struck without public scrutiny. For the industry, though, the stakes of these local contests extend well beyond any single town: the facilities on Tuesday's ballots supply the computing capacity that AI models require.

Industry Responds to the Backlash

AI companies are aware of the growing resistance and are already working to counter it. Some have stepped up lobbying efforts, while others have turned to public relations campaigns to reshape public perception. OpenAI, for instance, has sought to rebrand data centers as "compute campuses" in an effort to distance the facilities from the negative connotations increasingly associated with them.

The votes arrived alongside victories by politicians promising tougher oversight of data centers. In Texas, Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott after campaigning for a moratorium on new projects, while Ohio's governor-elect, Amy Acton, also supports a pause and stricter rules. That sets up the next phase of the debate: whether the moratoriums and stricter rules that featured on the campaign trail translate into statewide policy.

Industry leaders have warned that blanket restrictions would put U.S. AI investment at risk. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said last month that a broad moratorium could have serious economic consequences. "If we have a moratorium of some sort in this country, we will be in a recession," he said.