Data center backlash spreads across Europe and Asia, raising investor risks

The AI boom has turned data center development into a national policy issue, with public backlash against U.S. Data centers spreading to Europe and Asia. In Europe, the backlash has already impacted roughly $42 billion of data center investments, according to research from STL Partners, and more than 70 projects were rejected or restricted between January and April, a higher number than in all of 2025, the European Data Center Monitor reported.

The pushback has snowballed from local town halls to courts, regulators and parliaments. In Scotland, planning approvals for new hyperscale data centers were paused after campaigners warned of a “cautionary tale” of Ireland, while the Nordics saw an emergency law that could place data centers at the back of the queue for grid power applications. Spain also proposed new rules this summer, requiring data centers to source 80 % of their electricity from renewables, and projects in the U.K. stalled after local opposition.

South Korea, home to tech giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, has named AI data centers as one of three major investment projects in June, but local resistance in the Geumcheon district of southwestern Seoul has led to a 172‑day protest campaign and a new ordinance in Gwacheon to protect nearby residents from risks associated with 24‑hour operations. Experts say the business‑friendly environment in the U.S. Has historically made it easier to overcome pushback, but in Europe and Asia the policy environment is tightening, raising costs for operators and making the AI build‑out a visible and fundamental layer of the economy.

Read the full story at cnbc.com.