The New Gold Rush of AI Data Centers

Event ID: PP1149112

Sun, Mar 15, 2026 | 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Venue: Salon C (JW Marriott)

View on Official SXSW

Summary

As AI accelerates, demand for data centers has sparked a modern-day gold rush reshaping land use, energy, and regional economies. Drawing on her experience developing large-scale projects in high-growth markets, Anita Verma-Lallian explains why certain regions are emerging as AI infrastructure hubs while others face real constraints. She breaks down what drives site selection, from zoning and entitlements to power, water, and community impact, cutting through the hype to reveal where the true opportunities lie and how communities can realistically position themselves for long-term investment.

Contributors

Raw Event JSON

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