Donald Trump says he "could not be happier" about the anti-data centre movement

President Donald Trump has criticised the US campaign against data-centre construction, saying such opposition would leave America economically and technologically weaker and hand an advantage to China. The dispute matters because moratoriums in several US states and activism from figures including Bernie Sanders and Marjorie Taylor Greene have pushed AI firms toward Australia. During San Francisco talks with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and junior technology minister Andrew Charlton, companies including Anthropic, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI reportedly agreed that future large data centres should be built in remote areas rather than near homes. The assurances support projections of a $150 billion Australian data-centre build-out and a possible $21 billion Anthropic partnership, giving Australian officials leverage over Big Tech.