Inside the long, bitter fight over one man's quest to build the biggest AI datacenter in California

Many residents are concerned about the health and environmental issues a datacenter could bring to the community. Many residents are concerned about the health and environmental issues a datacenter could bring to the community. Inside the long, bitter fight over one man's quest to build the biggest AI datacenter in California Sat 17 Oct 2026 09.00 EDTLast modified on Sat 17 Oct 2026 09.01 EDT Sebastian Rucci zoomed in on a map in late 2024, looking closely at a large block of brown earth. The barren plot sandwiched between sprawling alfalfa fields and sleepy desert suburbs was exactly what he'd been searching for - the perfect place to realize his dream of building the largest artificial intelligence datacenter in California. It was in the Sonoran desert, just north of the Mexican border, where temperatures regularly rose past 100F (37.8C). Water was scarce in the once-booming agricultural area, which gets its supply from the beleaguered Colorado River.