Michigan Township Forced to Accept $16B OpenAI Data Center Despite Local Opposition

Across the United States, the debate over data center construction has pitted municipal governments against their own residents. Local officials often face pressure to approve projects opposed by constituents, while voters increasingly take their concerns to the ballot box.

In Saline Township, Michigan, residents believed they had avoided the controversy when their township board and planning commission both voted to reject a 21 million square foot data center proposed for their community. With a population of just 2,883, the township’s decision aligned with the wishes of its residents. However, the developer, Related Digital—a subsidiary of billionaire Steven Roth’s real estate conglomerate—sued the township, ultimately forcing it to accept the $16 billion development, Fortune reported.

In September, Saline’s planning commission rejected a request to rezone 575 acres of farmland for the data center. The developer, Related Digital, filed suit two days later, alleging the township had engaged in “exclusionary zoning.” Local officials faced an impossible choice: a prolonged legal battle could drain the township’s finances, and even if they won in court, Related Digital could still bypass local zoning laws by partnering with the University of Michigan.

The township ultimately settled, signing an agreement to allow the project to proceed. In October, it was revealed that the data center would be primarily leased to Sam Altman’s OpenAI and Larry Ellison’s Oracle, as part of Donald Trump’s $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative, known as “Stargate.”

“I’m not sure there were any good solutions,” said Fred Lucas, the township’s attorney. “If you polled everyone on the township board, they would have said the same thing: they didn’t want a data center there. We didn’t invite them, we didn’t encourage them.”

The legal pressure in Saline highlights a growing contradiction in America’s AI infrastructure boom: tech billionaires and their political allies are imposing these projects on communities that bear the environmental and social costs. The pattern underscores a stark reality—when capital and democracy collide, capital prevails.

Kathryn Haushalter, a local mother living near the data center site, told Fortune, “It feels like I’m playing by a different rule book. Like I’m playing baseball and they’re playing football.”