New Delhi, Nov. 2 -- A SPECTRE IS haunting America-the spectre of data centres. The computer-filled warehouses powering America's boom in artificial intelligence have become less popular than almost every other kind of infrastructure-even nuclear-power plants. Counties and states are rushing to wrap them in red tape or ban them altogether. In July the Ratepayer Protection Act, designed to limit their impact on electricity prices, sailed through the committee stage in the House of Representatives.

On August 31st Donald Trump weighed into the fractious debate, alarming Republicans facing tight midterm races. Local opponents of data centres would "end up being backwards and poor", he warned, if they killed the "Golden Goose". The backlash a...