AI Backlash Builds in President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Backyard

A vote in Palm Beach County on whether to allow the construction of a digital infrastructure hub to house AI data centers and warehouses is set to show the strength of Florida’s efforts to rein in the technology industry.

Project Tango, which would fill dozens of acres of land about 20 miles from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, is facing a bitter backlash from residents who fear it will cause power and water bills to spike and create noise and heat for homeowners and schools. Its fate will be decided by county commissioners who will meet Wednesday.

The opposition to the project echoes what’s been playing out all across the US as tech giants sprint to build out AI computing capacity. Project Tango is the most high-profile such plan to come up for approval since Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, signed legislation that prevents large data centers, which need copious amounts of energy to run and vast supplies of water to keep cool, from passing on their utility costs.

“Everybody is going to urge them to shut down the whole project,” said Rachel Smith, who lives a few miles from the proposed site and created the website NoToProjectTango.com.

Local opposition has blocked major data-center projects in states including Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. At least 75 data-center proposals were blocked or delayed in the first three months of this year across the US, according to the advocacy group Data Center Watch.

The backlash is leading some states to call for a pause in construction of the facilities across the board. New York Governor Kathy Hochul imposed a statewide moratorium on so-called hyperscale data centers on Tuesday, angling to give state officials time to craft more regulations to protect the environment and the electrical grid.

States are acting despite an executive order by Trump aimed at thwarting state-level regulation of AI. A patchwork of rules could hamper the industry’s growth and leave the US trailing China in a vital strategic competition, some AI advocates claim.

Ernie Cox, the manager of Project Tango, said that he understands the community’s concerns, but surging demand for AI requires data centers. “It’s not easy, but the reality is that data centers are critical infrastructure for the state and the county,” Cox said in an interview.

South Florida residents have coordinated petition drives, hired lobbyists and packed public hearings to oppose Project Tango. If built, it would rank among the largest data centers currently operating in the US in terms of power usage, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence analysis of DC Byte data.

The Project Tango site is near a development with roughly 2,000 homes, pickleball courts and a five-acre working community farm. Last year, a public elementary school also opened nearby. As the approval process advanced, opposition increased because of concerns about noise and strain on power and water systems.

In the face of protests, PBA Holdings, the entity seeking the approval, reoriented the site’s design to point the data center and its noise away from the school.

“We clearly understand the concerns, and they are legitimate concerns,” said Cox. “We have designed this to mitigate those impacts.”

The changes to the original plan have received a mixed reception from local officials. The Palm Beach County Zoning Commission unanimously voted this month against recommending that the county commissioners approve the project. But the county commission’s staff backed the plan’s approval based on the changes aimed at mitigating noise and other issues.

Florida’s new data-center law gave localities more power to restrict or even stop construction. On July 7, Palm Beach County commissioners voted 6-1 to place a one-year moratorium on new data-center applications, though Project Tango is exempt from the freeze because it was already moving through the review process.

Data centers have emerged as a rare area of bipartisan consensus in Florida, where Republicans have a stranglehold on government and Democrats have struggled to shape major legislation.

“This is an issue that transcends party lines. Democrats and Republicans have really come together on this,” said Anna Eskamani, a Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives from Orlando who has pushed for data-center regulation.

They’ve also become a major issue in the race to succeed DeSantis, who is finishing his final term as governor. The current Republican frontrunner, Representative Byron Donalds, has taken fire from GOP and Democratic rivals for accepting millions of dollars in contributions from the tech industry.

The Trump-endorsed Donalds has promised to make sure utility customers won’t bear the cost of data-center development. “Byron has made his position on this clear: he stands with Trump and DeSantis to protect ratepayers and local communities,” campaign spokesman Gates McGavick said in a statement.

In spite of the groundswell, the industry was able to push back on some of the more aggressive components of the data-center legislation. For example, the original bill sought to force developers to reveal the identity of tech companies involved in data-center projects and restrict AI providers from targeting children or selling personal data.

“The question is who benefits from this boom? These are being built by billionaires for some of the most profitable companies in the world,” said Eskamani.

Cox declined to say which companies may end up using Project Tango’s computing capacity, citing nondisclosure agreements.

Some economic development advocates said the data-center project could bring other advantages to the region.

Kelly Smallridge, president of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, noted that if Project Tango is ultimately built out, it is projected to bring in $460 million in annual property-tax revenue. That could help offset a potential major reduction in taxes for many homeowners.

“At a time when cities and counties are trying to figure out how do they make up lost revenue, this could be a very large contributor to Palm Beach County’s tax base,” she said.

Meanwhile, business leaders are closely watching Project Tango’s progress and how the county responds to the pressure from residents.

“The vote will certainly be watched by many in the tech and innovation world,” said Smallridge. “I do believe it would lead to more tech and innovation companies. Would it run them off if the vote was a no? I think it depends on the nature of what they would be wanting to bring to this county.”

Photo: The Project Tango site in Palm Beach County is located near a public elementary school, left, and a housing development. (Photographer: Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel/TNS/Getty Images)