Missouri Department of Natural Resources<\/a>.<\/p>\nDuring his remarks, Kehoe praised the economic development from data centers and claimed the U.S.\u2019s foreign adversaries may be spreading misinformation to slander the development of data centers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are enemies of this country that do not want us to develop this type of technology, they would like to be the sole owner of this type of technology,\u201d Kehoe said.<\/p>\n
Several small protests greeted attendees in the parking lot, their chants and signs focused on data centers\u2019 water usage. They said they could not secure tickets to the free event, which was capped at 250, and disparage it as untransparent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThinking about all of the pollution and harm to our water, our way of life, our air, our children\u2019s health and future has us out here and wanting people to know about the harm,\u201d said Suzanne Hume of Clean Earth 4 Kids.<\/p>\n
Kehoe said the goal of the day-long forum was to address concerns, which he calls misinformation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to move past the noise. We have to listen to facts,\u201d Kehoe said. \u201cArtificial intelligence is not some idea far off in the future, it\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The governor said the forum focused on workforce development and what data centers can do for the economy. The state partnered with Missouri S&T on the event, which was held in the university\u2019s Protoplex building.<\/p>\n
\u201cTechnology is changing, the economy is changing, and we have a responsibility to make sure Missourians are ready, because the future of AI should not just happen in Silicon Valley, it should happen right here in Missouri,\u201d Kehoe said.<\/p>\n
Hume said Missouri needs to slow down on data centers until regulations can catch up.<\/p>\n
\u201cMissouri lacks regulations. We need statewide regulations in place and also we need ordinances at the city and county level,\u201d Hume said. \u201cWe lose out time and time again as we try to protect our health and our future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Data center projects are popping up across the state. The event comes the same week Amazon announced a $10 billion data center in Montgomery County.<\/p>\n
Republican State Rep. Tricia Byrnes is proposing legislation intended to increase transparency and public involvement in the review of incentive-supported projects.<\/p>\n
Byrnes said the People Before Powerful Interests Act includes enhanced public disclosure requirements, independent review standards and countywide voter approval requirements for certain projects receiving public incentives. She is calling for a statewide moratorium on future hyperscale projects until concerns can be addressed by local communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cMajor development proposals can have lasting effects on local communities,\u201d Byrnes said. \u201cThis legislation is intended to ensure citizens have access to information and an opportunity to participate in the process before significant public commitments are made. If public dollars are on the table, the public should be at the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 WGEM. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ROLLA, Mo. (WGEM) – Missouri\u2019s governor is blaming foreign countries for spreading misinformation about data centers. Gov. Mike…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,39,7905,4683],"class_list":["post-79839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-data-centers","tag-missouri-capitol-bureau","tag-protests"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}