AI Industry Scrambles for Transparency as Data Center Moratoriums Surge Past 100 Across U.S.

The AI infrastructure buildout is colliding with a surging wave of local opposition, forcing tech giants to abandon decades-old industry secrecy practices to salvage their expansion plans. More than 100 data center moratoriums are under consideration or in effect across the United States, blocking or delaying at least 75 projects worth roughly $130 billion in the first quarter of 2026 alone. The scale of resistance has prompted Amazon Web Services and Microsoft to eliminate nondisclosure agreements in their negotiations with local governments—a dramatic reversal of industry norms that had kept communities in the dark until projects were already approved.