Kentucky family snubs $26 million offer to convert their farmland into an AI data center — 'they call us old stupid farmers, you know, but we’re not,' says landowner

['Zhiye Liu', 'News Editor', 'Ram Reviewer', 'Ssd Technician', 'Layer Van-Ds .Vds-Author Font-Size Var --Text-Base', 'Font-Size Var --Vds-Author-Font-Size', 'Var --Text-Base', 'Line-Height Var --Text-Base--Line-Height', 'Line-Height Var --Vds-Author-Line-Height', 'Var --Text-Base--Line-Height'] Latest from Tom's Hardware 2026-08-06 11:00:00

According to a WKRC report, an anonymous AI company approached a landowner in Northern Kentucky with an extraordinary $26 million offer to buy a portion of their farmland to build a data center. In an attempt to woo the Huddlestons to sign, the AI company offered $26 million, nearly 10X the local land value. With the AI boom advancing at a breakneck speed, AI companies are competing to construct data centers nationwide. According to Statista, the United States leads the world with more than 4,400 data centers. It is understandable why residents in many areas are refusing to welcome more data centers that jeopardize their quality of life.