Sebastian Rucci zoomed in on a map in late 2024, looking closely at a large block of brown earth.
asserted
Rucci → zoom → earth
The barren plot sandwiched between sprawling alfalfa fields and sleepy desert suburbs was exactly what he’d been searching for – the perfect place to realize his dream of building the largest artificial intelligence datacenter in California.
asserted
he → sandwich → California
It was in the Sonoran desert, just north of the Mexican border, where temperatures regularly rose past 100F (37.8C).
asserted
temperatures → rise → 100F
Water was scarce in the once-booming agricultural area, which gets its supply from the beleaguered Colorado River.
asserted
which → boom → River
As controversial datacenter projects have sprung up across the US, residents were naturally skeptical of a new, energy-guzzling neighbor.
asserted
residents → spring → neighbor
But for Rucci, a 66-year-old lawyer with a complicated past, none of these obstacles seemed insurmountable.
asserted
none → seem → obstacles
Rucci is among the new class of middlemen who inhabit the burgeoning world of datacenter development.
asserted
who → inhabit → development
The rapid rise of artificial intelligence – galvanized by Silicon Valley companies worth trillions of dollars – has fueled one of the biggest industrial construction booms in history.
asserted
rise → galvanize → history
The technology requires far more computing power than traditional internet services, and that means building enormous new structures to house millions of servers.
asserted
that → require → servers
This proliferation of datacenters is now attracting modern-day prospectors seeking land in hopes of cashing in on one of the fastest-growing and most lucrative industries on Earth.
asserted
proliferation → attract → Earth
Set in their sights are areas like Imperial county: rural, underdeveloped and desperate for an economic boost.
asserted
areas → Set → boost
“I didn’t know much about datacenters,” Rucci said, recalling a couple of years back.
asserted
Rucci → know → years
“I made calls to people I knew in Silicon Valley.
asserted
I → make → Valley
And within a short period, I realized: holy shit, this stuff is huge.”
asserted
stuff → realize → period
Rucci, a self-described expert at doing the tedious legwork of packaging permits and plans, proved adept at selling a bright future of economic development to county lawmakers.
asserted
Rucci → describe → lawmakers
He said his sales skills also nabbed him a direct line to Google, which floated interest in being the tenant of the datacenter, according to emails between Rucci and county agencies.
uncertain
which → say → Rucci
With the promise of these potential partnerships and support from construction unions, Rucci moved into high gear last year and began plotting his nearly 1m-square-foot datacenter – a facility the size of 16 football fields combined.
asserted
Rucci → move → fields
He said he had invested about $5m already, and, if it gets approved and passed off to a builder, he expects “big multipliers of that” in return.
asserted
he → say → return
What Rucci didn’t expect, however, was the firestorm of resistance his project set off in the community.
asserted
project → expect → community
Over the past year, more than half a dozen lawsuits have been filed, along with recall efforts for local officials who supported the project.
asserted
who → file → project
Even a temporary 45-day datacenter moratorium was approved.
asserted
moratorium → approve → ?
Echoing similar battles against such development across the US, Imperial county residents told the Guardian they fear increased emissions, harm to the region’s rare desert wildlife, constraints on the power grid and rapidly dwindling water supply, along with noise issues.
asserted
they → echo → issues
Rucci denies the project will have such effects.
asserted
project → deny → effects
It seems the backlash succeeded – for now.
asserted
backlash → seem → ?
Rucci’s developments are on pause after a county judge ruled last month that his project cannot move forward until it clears an extensive environmental review.
asserted
it → rule → review
Despite a bold start, Rucci could end up a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when a businessman moves too fast without community buy-in.
uncertain
businessman → end → in
“This project was presented as a Noah’s Ark that’s going to come save everybody,” said Francisco Leal, who lives in a residential neighborhood across the street from Rucci’s proposed datacenter.
asserted
who → present → datacenter
“But the community sees this project as a Trojan horse.”
asserted
community → see → horse
From strip club owner to datacenter developer
When Rucci landed on that vast plot of land in Imperial county in late 2024, only two things really mattered: finding a location that could be exempted from California’s strict environmental building requirements, and getting his hands on a lot of electricity.
uncertain
that → land → electricity
In unincorporated Imperial county, he had both.
asserted
he → have → both
Because the land was zoned for industrial use, he was able to apply for an exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which would fast-track the project by avoiding the environmental permitting process.
asserted
which → zone → process
And for electricity, Rucci was able to work with the local energy provider to eventually get 330 megawatts of electricity – enough to power a city the size of Tallahassee.
asserted
Rucci → work → Tallahassee
Rucci is based in Huntington Beach, but has started several businesses throughout southern California, St Louis and Ohio.
asserted
Rucci → base → California
In early 2025, he said one of his connections introduced him to a longtime Google employee who helped guide him through the process.
asserted
who → say → process
In a July email to Imperial county’s planning and development services, Rucci wrote that the datacenter would “enable Google to conduct artificial intelligence and large language model training for its Gemini system”, Google’s suite of AI models.
asserted
datacenter → write → models
“We have secured interest from Google for this project, which we are confident will transform the area through increased tax revenues, new employment opportunities, and expanded energy production,” Rucci wrote in another email in August to the county’s air pollution control district.
asserted
Rucci → secure → district
“We are not involved in a datacenter project in Imperial county,” said a Google spokesperson.
asserted
spokesperson → involve → county
She did not respond to questions about the company’s relationship with Rucci.
asserted
She → respond → Rucci
He said Google’s response made sense considering they do not have a formal agreement.
asserted
they → say → agreement
While California has dozens of datacenters capable of cloud computing, streaming and internet searches, the state has scant facilities dedicated to AI.
asserted
state → have → AI
…and 86 more, not listed.
The Aporia
