By Phil Baker – NYA
Tanya Tucker, the famous country music singer is not a person you might expect to become a leading voice in the growing fight over AI data centers. But according to a recent article in the Daily Telegraph, she’s found herself on the front lines of a battle in her home state of Texas.
Tucker lives on a 250-acre family property in central Texas with her partner, country musician Craig Dillingham. They face the prospect of huge transmission lines crossing their land to supply a network of data centers being built throughout the state. The proposed Texas transmission system would stretch thousands of miles, with towers reaching 180 feet into the air.
She contends that technological progress shouldn’t mean that citizens need to surrender their land and accept the consequences without having a say in the decision.
But the scale of the AI buildout in Texas is extraordinary. According to the Telegraph, Texas already has 137 data centers consuming about 7,700 megawatts of electricity, with hundreds more proposed. If all those projects proceed, their potential electricity demand could approach the state’s entire peak-summer electric capacity.
AI data centers also require enormous amounts of water for cooling, occupy huge amounts of land and require new power plants and transmission infrastructure. This all leads to higher utility bills, environmental damage and pressure on communities that have little say in where the infrastructure goes.
Tucker has been joined by another ally, Willie Nelson. Both musicians have another reason to be suspicious of the AI revolution: the technology is threatening to effect artists’ intellectual property and the use of their work without permission.
Tucker and Nelson are among the growing number of people of all political persuasions voicing opposition to data centers being built with no public input. It is expected to be an important issue in the upcoming election. And it’s easy to understand why. People have been told by Big Tech that data centers are needed for AI and, simultaneously, that AI will be eliminating many of their jobs.
The full article is here https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/08/30/country-music-stars-data-centres/