Microsoft’s $7.3 billion AI data centre in the US is facing legal trouble after nearby residents alleged that relentless noise from the facility has disrupted their lives, according to the Times of India.
Earlier this year, CEO described the company’s AI data centre in Fairwater, Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, as the world’s most powerful AI facility, saying it connected hundreds of thousands of chips into a single computing cluster.
However, while the facility has been hailed as a milestone in the AI race, some local residents say it has become a source of constant disturbance.
Residents sue over constant noise
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, cited by TOI, three residents of the neighbouring village of Sturtevant have filed a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft, alleging that excessive noise from the data centre has created a private nuisance and caused damage through negligence.
The lawsuit claims the noise originates from diesel generators and HVAC equipment, including chillers, cooling towers and condenser fans, and describes it as continuous and pervasive.
The noise, generated by diesel generators and systems including chillers, cooling towers and condenser fans, is described in the lawsuit as consistent and pervasive, the report said.
Residents describe round-the-clock disturbance
According to TOI, a resident in a nearby Southwest Michigan town measured the noise from his porch last week at 60 decibels, calling it highly irritating.
Amy Cimbalnik, one of the three Sturtevant residents named as complainants in the class-action lawsuit, was quoted as comparing the sound emitted by Microsoft’s Wisconsin facility to that of a freight train engine running continuously, adding that residents eventually traced the source to the Microsoft campus.
A Sturtevant resident, unnamed in the report, told regulators that construction-related pounding had continued for two years before being replaced by a new round-the-clock mechanical hum resembling a freight train engine. Another resident, also unnamed, cited via PC Mag, said the constant noise had been affecting his sleep.
TOI reported that acknowledged the lawsuit, telling the publication it remains committed to being a good neighbour in the communities where it builds and operates its data centres.
The tech giant had claimed last month that it had already resolved the issue, though the fact that the lawsuit was filed on 1 July suggests residents remain unconvinced, the report said.
As per an 18 June update on Microsoft’s official blog, cited by TOI, the company said it was investigating the source of the sound and had conducted tests and implemented noise mitigation measures, citing a “tonal humming sound” traced in April to cooling fans operating at high speed. The blog added that several neighbours had confirmed the mitigations had resolved the issue.
Sean Ryan, communications director for the Village of Mount Pleasant, told the outlet that the village had not received any complaints since Microsoft made changes to its property in mid-April to address the humming sound, adding that officials remain ready to respond if residents reach out and will continue ensuring Microsoft functions as a responsible corporate neighbour, TOI reported.
The report noted that this lawsuit is one among several facing tech giants as sprawling, resource-intensive data centres continue to expand into residential areas, a backlash that has grown into a bipartisan issue with the potential to influence upcoming midterm elections.
