Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer faced public opposition to data centers head on Tuesday at a groundbreaking event over a controversial project in Saline.
There’s belief data centers are inevitable in the evolution of technology, where data is stored in cloud software. Still, critics on the left and right are trying to keep them away from their communities over environmental concerns.
Data centers are warehouses where computers servers store data, sort of like a physical backbone of the internet. Google, Oracle and OpenAI’s approximately $16 billion project in Saline, outside of Ann Arbor, is being financed by Related Companies.
“We’re working with anyone to compete with everyone,” Whitmer said at a press conference in Washtenaw County Tuesday where stakeholders held a symbolic groundbreaking event.
The governor mentioned the state’s climb in regional workforce development rankings and a boost in population, saying the state should lead on AI policy as well. Whitmer said other countries shouldn’t be leading the United States on AI tech.
“We’re all fueling the need for projects like this one with the devices we hold in our hand, our purse and our pockets,” Whitmer said. “AI research is driving big breakthroughs whether it’s in science, medicine, technology.”
Whitmer at the press conference with tech leaders including OpenAI’s Sam Altman also acknowledged how data center projects can go wrong.
“We’re committed to leading the way on responsible AI,” Whitmer said. “Human intelligence cannot be replaced… Michiganders must build the center, operate the technology and reap the benefits.”
Altman, the billionaire CEO and co-founder of OpenAI, has become the face of the AI boom since the company released Chat-GPT.
Last year, Whitmer sided with the tech industry on the premise that data centers provide jobs that outweigh the environmental costs after they are built. The governor signed off last year on an exemption that eliminated Michigan’s 6% sales and use tax on eligible data center construction and equipment purchases, significantly reducing the tax burden. The legislation also requires companies to source electricity from clean energy.
Leaders touted the Saline project as the largest investment in the history of Michigan.
Whitmer said any company that invests in Michigan communities must create jobs. The Saline project is said by supporters to be the first data center to be built under a labor agreement covering all 14 signatory affiliated skilled trades unions.
Despite the assurance from stakeholders the project would not lead to increases in water and utility rates for nearby residents, Whitmer’s decision to join Atlman in championing the data center groundbreaking, drew opposition from lawmakers and local candidates.
In Saline, township officials had similar concerns.
The township board voted 4-1 against the massive data center project led by Google, Oracle and OpenAI. Lawmakers ended their opposition after the threat of litigation that the township said would financially ruin Saline’s government.
Developers say the project will create 2,500 union construction jobs, 450 onsite jobs and 1,500 jobs across Washtenaw County. The site will bring in millions in new, annual tax revenue to support the township and nearby schools. Plus, developers promise the project will run a closed-loop water system to protect Michigan’s fresh water.
DTE Energy is supplying 100% of the project’s power using existing resources augmented by a new battery storage investment financed entirely by Oracle. Developers believe the project could create $300 million in savings for DTE’s existing customers thanks to the project’s contribution towards the fixed costs of grid maintenance and improvements.
But some Democrats aren’t convinced.
“Disgusting,” U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib said on social media in response to Whitmer’s inclusion at the press conference Monday. “So disappointed in Governor Whitmer’s support of data center expansions in our state especially when so many Michiganders are opposed.”
John Conyers III, a candidate for Michigan State Senate District 3, shared Tlaib’s post and expressed disappointment in his own post.
Westland state Representative Dylan Wegela said the governor abandoned working class voters for celebrating the data center project.
Wegela hasn’t shied away from criticizing the governor as a member of the state Legislature. The state lawmaker said the governor stopped responding to his calls amid his public criticism during the end of the Democratic trifecta in 2024.
Monday represented the latest what some in Gov. Whitmer’s own party have said are missteps in the final year of her popular tenure as the leader of the state.
Whitmer faced complaints from Democrats when she covered her face with a blue binder inside the White House during what she said was a impromptu press conference put on by President Donald Trump. Whitmer has gone to D.C. to talk to the president about federal assistance for storm recovery, funding for the Selfridge Air National Guard base in Macomb County, environmental protections for the Great Lakes and the automobile industry.
While some have championed New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s trips to the White House to support his housing plan and secure the release of students detained by federal authorities, Whitmer’s trips have been criticized.
The governor on Mackinac Island at last month’s Detroit Regional Chamber Policy Conference continued to fend off questions about whether she will run for U.S. president.
She first told Fox 2’s Roop Raj that she wouldn’t be one of the names running for president in 2028, and then on stage told a crowd that she could “never say never.”
Whitmer’s approval rating remains high, 52%, in her final year as Michigan governor, according to a new survey of 600 voters conducted by Glengariff Group between April 28 and May 1.
