An ex-senator walks into a zoning meeting
The push to build artificial intelligence infrastructure is getting a boost from a new group of players — former members of Congress. And they’re already ruffling feathers among some local politicians who need to sign off on the projects.
Take the high-powered advocacy group that former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and ex-Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) launched this week.
The AI Infrastructure Coalition is backed by the lobbying firm Hogan Lovells and tech and energy giants including Andreessen Horowitz, Microsoft, Meta, ExxonMobil, NextEra and Pinnacle West, which owns Arizona’s largest utility. It’s aimed at advocating for all aspects of AI, including energy, manufacturing and financing.
Sinema has gotten personally involved in the data center piece — a particularly fraught issue as local communities start pushing back over power and water concerns.
She’s warned some 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 said last month at a meeting of the Phoenix suburb’s Planning and Zoning Commission, which was weighing New York-based developer Active Infrastructure’s request to rezone one parcel for its 422,000-square foot facility. “When federal preemption comes, we’ll no longer have that privilege.”
Her argument is raising eyebrows among the local officials weighing whether to approve the data center — as is her assertion at the meeting that her group is working “hand in glove with the Trump administration as we prepare for AI American dominance.”
“As a local official, we never appreciate when a county, a state or a federal official attempts to insert their authority into our local process,” said OD Harris, a member of Chandler’s city council, which plans to consider the zoning change at its Dec. 11 meeting. “We represent what the voters want because we’re closest to the people.”
Sinema, the White House and Active Infrastructure didn’t respond to requests for comment. The AI Infrastructure Coalition also declined to comment through a spokesperson for Watchtower Strategy, the public affairs firm launched by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Data duel in the desert
Arizona is a major hub for data centers, thanks to generous tax breaks, a stable climate and a booming tech sector. But drought-stricken communities are pushing back. Tucson’s city council rejected an Amazon-linked data center this summer over water concerns and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego opposes new projects in her city.
The decision in Chandler — a Republican-leaning, business-friendly city with a vibrant tech sector — could be a test case for where the state is heading.
It will likely come down to jobs, another council member said. “I need the business case,” Matt Orlando said in an interview. “Prove to me you’ve got the users that will generate the jobs.”
Sinema’s interpretation of federal authority over data centers appears to be a novel one. While the tech industry generally backs preempting state rules governing AI models, as a draft White House order leaked this week would do, people in Washington are not talking about cracking down on zoning rules, said Neil Chilson, head of AI policy for the Abundance Institute, a tech think tank.
Within Arizona, however, some tech backers say they know where Sinema is coming from. Cepand Alizadeh, a government relations specialist with the Arizona Technology Council, said the constitutional prohibition on states regulating international commerce could give the feds the right to step in if a city tries to restrict a global industry.
“It’s called the World Wide Web,” Alizadeh said. “Yes, it’s being built in a certain town or city, but the data there is transmitted all around the world.”