Maine to become first US state to bar major data centers

Legislators in Maine on Tuesday endorsed a moratorium on building large data centers, becoming the first US state to try and rein in rampant construction driven by the AI race. Data center construction spending in the United States has surged in recent years, with tech firms pouring tens of billions of dollars into building out infrastructure amid the race to lead in AI. The Maine law would prohibit local authorities from issuing permits for data centers with electrical capacity exceeding 20 megawatts.