Former IBM town in New York pushes back on 1-gigawatt AI data centre

​New York’s East Fishkill is debating AI infrastructure. The town, located about 70 miles north of New York City, was once a major semiconductor manufacturing hub, with IBM operating a 460-acre campus there for nearly 50 years. However, a proposed 1-gigawatt artificial intelligence (AI) data centre has prompted residents to question whether the project would benefit the community or put additional pressure on its electricity supply.​The data center developer Treetop Companies is exploring plans for a facility spanning more than 1 million square feet across approximately 143 acres. Residents have organised protests and pushed for restrictions, arguing the project could raise electricity costs, harm the environment, and offer limited long-term employment.​East Fishkill imposes a three-year moratorium on data centres​East Fishkill's town board unanimously adopted a three-year moratorium in late June 2026, preventing the consideration of new data centres larger than 20 megawatts until July 2029.