Texas is racing to build more AI data centers to keep up with China, but local communities are pushing back — a mixed picture for the AI buildout.

• Texas has 40 AI data centers now and plans about 400 in the next two years.
• Nationally there are around 4,000 data centers with another 1,400 being built.
• Local people are complaining loudly about noise from the cooling systems needed to keep the machines from overheating.
• Texas AG Ken Paxton says the US cannot afford to lose the AI race to China, but he sympathizes with neighborhoods that do not want these built nearby.

Outlook: Expect more fights between state leaders pushing AI growth and local residents trying to block new data centers.