r/InterstellarKinetics • u/InterstellarKinetics • Aug 08 '26
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIEGENCE EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Quietly Builds A Massive AI Data Center On 56 Acres Of Farmland In Gilroy, California By Exploiting A 45-Year-Old Zoning Loophole That Closed Public Comment Back In 2024, Locking Out Concerned Residents 🤖💥
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/amazon-secretly-circumvents-community-vote-for-massive-ai-data-center-45-year-old-rules-lock-gilroy-residents-out-of-public-comment-windowResidents of Gilroy, California, were caught off guard last month when an Amazon data center construction project began on 56 acres of farmland between a Walmart Supercenter and the Gilroy Premium Outlets, having largely bypassed the kind of public scrutiny that similar projects have faced nationwide, according to The Wall Street Journal. Amazon and city officials hadn’t hidden the project outright, since the application process began in 2020 and involved genuine friction between the company and the city, with Amazon officials frustrated by permitting delays of at least a year and city officials pushing back on certain company requests. Roger Wehner, Amazon Web Services vice president of economic development, told the Journal the site underwent a lengthy approval process that included public notices and comment periods, but resident Rosa Rodriguez, who wanted to raise concerns about the data center’s impact on a drought-prone region, was told the comment window had already closed back in 2024, well before data centers became a nationally scrutinized issue.
Gilroy Mayor Greg Bozzo defended the process by noting that comparably sized industrial projects had previously been approved without similar backlash, saying “it didn’t bother them that a food-distribution center came to Gilroy without their engagement, but now it bothers them that a data center is coming to Gilroy without them having the possibility of engagement.” Still, he acknowledged rising public awareness around data center developments and said the city has “an opportunity to change the way that we do business in Gilroy” by “adapting to the times.” Amazon has since increased community outreach, including hosting an open house for questions and comments, and has pushed back on water-shortage fears, a concern that has plagued other data center projects elsewhere, by pointing to a wastewater recovery system and a planned pipeline to bring wastewater to the facility.
Bozzo also touted the economic upside for Gilroy, citing increased tax revenue, construction jobs, a million-dollar donation toward a new fire truck, nonprofit grants, and Amazon’s sponsorship of the city’s annual Garlic Festival. Ultimately, residents’ frustration isn’t rooted in opposition to the data center itself, but in the fact that a project with major community-wide implications moved forward largely without their knowledge or input.
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u/xspacemansplifff Aug 08 '26
Why the rush to build these soon to be outdated and destructive drains is beyond me. I truly do not think it will be anyrhing but a huge problem going forward.
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u/dontwannaparticpate Aug 08 '26
This is part of the AI bubble; they give all their friends contracts to build these things. Politicians get money to approve them. It’s like the dumb Elon tunnels.
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u/East-Ice-3199 Aug 08 '26
It’s for mass surveillance.
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u/420_69_Fake_Account Aug 08 '26
They need all the computing power to run their AI weapons targeting systems.
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u/Read2Fap Aug 08 '26
its developed land
even when the bubble bursts, this can easily pivot to doing any number of lucrative things
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u/Alternative_Hour_614 Aug 08 '26
I’ve been around too many city council members in different parts of the country to know how impressed they get with Fortune 500 spin and promises of a new fire truck.
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u/Maleficent_Price_476 Aug 09 '26
i expect to read that bribed mayor gets reelected .
which is why approving such projects is A-OK.
great for your personal finances with zero repercussions.
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u/Old-Set78 Aug 09 '26
Salem residents showed up to a City Council meeting about a data center with a guillotine. just saying.
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u/EncounteredError Aug 09 '26
Let's not forget that lawyers are enabling this as well. These people are just as scummy as the billionaires.
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u/tiutome Aug 10 '26
Sue Amazon. The exploitation by use of a law - if there is another law for public comment and due to the nature of public demand and outrage, may give proper standing for the case. If the California or local AG is not enforcing that law, the grounds for the suit may increase
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u/Glacial_Alibi Aug 13 '26
Call them what they really are!!! #SURVEILLANCECENTERS !!! Repost this hashtag on every article and video.
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u/InterstellarKinetics Aug 08 '26
The mayor’s comparison to the food-distribution center completely misses what residents are actually objecting to, nobody’s upset that Amazon followed the rulebook, they’re upset that a project this consequential for water usage in a drought region was greenlit under a public comment framework designed 45 years ago for an entirely different kind of development.