Instead of building a new data center from scratch, old buildings and data centers can get upgraded to handle the power and cooling needs of the computer chips that make AI work.

In much of the country, the AI boom is driving the construction of hyperscale data centers. Not so much in New England. But change is coming. Here's how some in the region are preparing.

Popular chatbots like Claude and ChatGPT are powered by models trained on enormous amounts of information, which means spending billions on vast data centers that take more power and water than entire cities. Instead, roboticists like Matthias Scheutz are thinking small. They’re designing AI systems compact enough to fit on a single computer chip.

Towns and cities across the region are using tools of local control to slow or stop data center development within their borders.

Across New England, data center opponents say they don’t trust the artificial intelligence industry