Why It Matters
As data center construction accelerates across Georgia, the technology industry is mounting a public relations offensive to counter mounting local opposition. The campaign reflects a fundamental divide over whether massive server facilities represent economic opportunity or environmental and community burden.
What Happened
Connected Georgia, a new advocacy organization backed by major tech companies, launched a public relations campaign in mid-June to defend the data center industry. The group, tied to the parent organization America Connects and led by Josh Levi of the Data Center Coalition, established a website and YouTube channel to promote the sector’s benefits.
The campaign includes a 30-second video advertisement that has become the centerpiece of the effort. Levi stated the organization aims “to better explain the role of data centers to the public—including how they operate, why they are important to our daily lives and the 21st Century economy, as well as information about the industry’s responsible usage of water and its commitment to paying for the energy it uses.”
The push comes as data center development has ignited fierce community resistance. Nearly 1,000 residents recently confronted OpenAI and local officials over a $20 billion data center announced for Effingham County. A Marietta City Council meeting was packed with protesters opposing a data center proposal that had been approved the previous year.
Opposition has extended to the state legislature. Lawmakers introduced bipartisan bills during the 2026 session to impose a moratorium on data center construction and to recapture tax incentives for the industry. Neither measure advanced to the governor’s desk.
The Data Center Coalition, which represents Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, hired two lobbyists at the Georgia Capitol but has reported no lobbying expenditures to the state Ethics Commission. Connected Georgia itself has not filed a contract with the Federal Communications Commission for its Georgia campaign activities.
By the Numbers
2 million — views generated by the 30-second YouTube advertisement in approximately four weeks
$20 billion — announced investment value for the OpenAI data center in Effingham County
Nearly 1,000 — residents who confronted OpenAI and officials over the Effingham County facility
$367,272 — amount Connected Georgia spent on advertising in North Carolina
3 — people listed on federal tax filings for America Connects
Zoom Out
Data center regulation has become a emerging policy flashpoint across the country as the artificial intelligence boom drives explosive demand for computing infrastructure. Georgia’s push to establish itself as an AI hub has put the state at the center of this national tension.
Other states have moved to restrict data center growth. New York approved a one-year moratorium on new data center construction, while Virginia enacted a new tax on electricity consumed by data centers. These moves signal growing skepticism about whether the industry’s economic benefits justify environmental and community costs.
Georgia’s legislative response suggests similar concerns exist in the state, even as Gov. Brian Kemp has positioned Georgia as a destination for tech investment and AI development.
What’s Next
The success of Connected Georgia’s campaign will likely determine whether public opinion shifts in favor of data center expansion. With no legislation currently limiting the industry, local zoning decisions and community organizing will remain the primary battlegrounds. The group’s ability to overcome skepticism—encapsulated by one critic’s assertion that “nobody’s going to believe them” regardless of spending—will test whether well-funded messaging can overcome concentrated local opposition to industrial development.