Former Sen. Sinema warns Chandler to embrace AI data centers or face federal intervention

Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema warned the city of Chandler in a meeting last week that failure to support the development of local AI-focused data centers will result in a loss of control for the city. The federal government, she said, will eventually step in.

Her comments came in the final portion of a long discussion Oct. 15 about a proposed data center and office campus project planned for the South Price Road Corridor in Chandler. The potential developer has argued against city staff’s concerns that the project does not fit the area’s land-use vision.

Sinema, president and CEO of the Arizona Business Roundtable, encouraged the planning and zoning commission to push the proposal forward and to embrace the emerging technology needs of the coming “AI revolution.”

“If we choose not to move forward with this development, the land will continue to sit vacant until federal preemption occurs,” Sinema said. “Earlier this year, the AI Action Plan set out by the Trump Administration says very clearly that we must continue to proliferate AI and AI data centers throughout the country. So federal preemption is coming.”

The proposed Price Road Innovation Campus — a potential $2.5 billion investment by the developer, New York-based Active Infrastructure — would include an AI data center and five additional office buildings. The developer is expected to find tenants for the offices on the 40-acre site following construction.

This story is posted in partnership with Phoenix Business Journal. Click to read the full story.

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