Across the country, the invisible architecture of artificial intelligence is becoming very visible indeed — and communities are responding with a unity rarely seen in fractured times. From rural counties to suburban townships, residents of opposing political persuasions are converging at town halls to resist the sprawling data centers that the AI boom demands. The conflict illuminates a deeper tension in modern technological progress: the benefits accrue broadly and abstractly, while the costs land locally and concretely. How a nation reconciles that imbalance may say as much about its democra