Here's why data centers exist, and how the policies governing them are impacting local communities.

By Helen Coster and Dawn Kopecki NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Less than a year ago, Texas Governor Greg Abbott hailed Texas as the "epicenter of AI development." Now, in his bid for re-election, he is calling for sweeping new restrictions on data centers.

The commerce secretary contradicted himself on the amount of water the centers use — and somebody brought receipts.

A multimillion-dollar campaign is trying to reverse the trend of the public's growing disdain for AI data centers.

Vertiv is expanding beyond the building shell to help connect data centers to power more quickly.

The rapid growth of data centers is raising questions about electricity use, water consumption, environmental impacts, and where these facilities should be built.

Several Republicans are distancing themselves from Trump's pro-data-center stance amid growing public backlash.

Voters in Independence, Missouri, voted to recall a city council member over his decision in March to back billions of dollars in tax breaks for an AI data center.

Power constraints are driving significant double-digital growth for critical infrastructure vendors and their channel partners as AI data center construction accelerates.

Follow Day 2 of the G20 Innovation Ministerial in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, and ministers discussing AI, policy and trade.

FuelCell Energy Q3 missed on sales/EPS; margins were hit by Fit Energy deal. AI data center funding + Texas 75MW reservation. See more on FCEL stock here.

36 out of the 50 states in the country employ tax incentives for data center development, allowing the projects to save on equipment costs.