AI firms and building unions form an alliance on data-centre standards

OpenAI, SoftBank and CoreWeave joined a new coalition of AI, data-centre and construction firms and building-trade unions called the American Infrastructure Alliance (AIA), launched to shape state and local rules on data-centre construction ahead of the 2027 state legislative sessions. Other founding members named in the release included Blackstone, QTS, Digital Realty and Prologis, and unions including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and SMART; the coalition named seven initial target states — Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Indiana and South Carolina.

The release frames the alliance’s purpose as advancing “responsible, enforceable guardrails” — on water use, who pays for supporting infrastructure, job creation and “operator accountability” — rather than opposing data centres outright, and cites the coalition’s own polling finding support for local projects shifting from “deep skepticism to clear majority support” once such guardrails are detailed. IBEW’s international president, Kenneth Cooper, framed it in terms of the bans some localities were weighing:

Blanket bans on necessary infrastructure projects would set back our economy and threaten good middle-class jobs. The IBEW is committed to responsible development that benefits workers, communities, and our nation.

— Kenneth Cooper, IBEW international president

The alliance follows a year in which local and national opposition to data centres hardened sharply — including a Virginia court ruling that halted a 37-building campus after a community legal challenge — and Republican strategists warned the backlash was becoming a liability for their own candidates. AIA said it would publish detailed policy principles in the coming weeks.