AI centers require massive amounts of water for electricity and to cool down the servers and prevent overheating.<\/p>\n
But Active Infrastructure officials assured residents at a city council meeting that their data centers would use a cooling system that uses less water.<\/p>\n
Former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema also lobbied in favor of the proposal, arguing that this project would boost the local economy.<\/p>\n
In an October city council meeting, Sinema said that AI is already taking away jobs in Chandler\u2019s tech district, the South Price Road Corridor. There are three call centers that exist on this corridor and all of them will cease to exist within five years, she added, as the Deseret News previously reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n An Intel manufacturing technician holds a Clearwater Forest chip inside the cleanroom of Intel\u2019s new Fab 52 in Chandler, Arizona, in September 2025. Fab 52 is the U.S. home to Intel 18A, where Clearwater Forest, a data center processor, will be manufactured. | Intel via Business Wire<\/p>\n \u201cThe way to get more jobs in this corridor is to build the compute power that will attract the companies of tomorrow, the compute power that they will need close to them in order to function at the highest levels,\u201d she said in an October city council meeting, as the Deseret News previously reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a recent interview on \u201cFox & Friends\u201d on Thursday, the same day as the city council vote, she said, \u201cChina is doing everything it can to dominate AI globally and they will program the AI with Chinese values.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd President Donald Trump is 100% right. We\u2019ve got to double down and make sure that American values are the values of the world and that we control this global AI agenda. And that\u2019s why these data centers are so important all across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have got to win that race,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n On Dec. 11, Trump signed an executive order titled the AI National Framework that nullifies state laws that hinder the U.S. in this technological race.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople think, \u2018Oh, the robots are gonna take over.\u2019 But what they\u2019re maybe not thinking about is how it\u2019s enhancing their lives already,\u201d she said, pointing to AI-optimized firetruck and school bus routes as early examples of how communities are benefiting from the new technology.<\/p>\n Her lobbying for the New York-based developer fell short as the project failed to meet land use requirements to construct a data center and five office buildings. The site for this proposed project has remained vacant since 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not just Chandler. We\u2019re dealing with this all over,\u201d Eric Runnestrand, a Chandler resident opposed to the project, told Politico<\/a>. \u201cHaving the community show up sends a message to the elected officials. They need to feel the people\u2019s power behind them.\u201d<\/p>\n At the October meeting, Sinema suggested the AI Infrastructure Coalition, which she founded earlier this year and of which she is the co-chair, is \u201cworking hand in glove with the Trump administration to ensure American AI dominance.\u201d<\/p>\n She hailed Chandler as the home of the semiconductor revolution before pitching the next path forward. Arizona\u2019s chip manufacturing, which is also water-intensive, is already straining local resources. Three of the factories in North Phoenix require 16.4 million gallons a day<\/a>, equivalent to the water usage of roughly 200,000 homes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are now at the tip of an AI revolution,\u201d Sinema told Chandler\u2019s Planning and Zoning Commission. \u201cThis AI hub meets the ordinance that was passed by the City Council in 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n Chandler\u2019s story is one every city and town in the Mountain West should pay attention to. Because of ongoing drought conditions and increasing demands, public water supplies will need to be managed more carefully.<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/caed97c58294170fb0f789df0ee0fcac.jpeg\"\/)
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