YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP — Board members of Ypsilanti Township vowed to oppose a proposed AI data center during a public meeting on June 16, 2026. The University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory plan to build the facility in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan.

The township board voted in April 2026 to institute a 365-day moratorium on supplying water to data centers. The moratorium was intended to allow for a study on how hyper-scale data centers might affect the community water supply. In response, the University of Michigan threatened to sue the township, claiming that withholding water from the AI data center constituted unlawful discrimination.

During the June 16 meeting, attorney Douglas Winters, who represents Ypsilanti Township, addressed proposed tax credits for data centers while a photograph from the June 1 groundbreaking of an Oracle and OpenAI data center in Saline Township was displayed. Winters said, "You have people in that photograph worth billions of dollars. Not just millions, we're talking trillions. Soon to be trillionaires. Yet this state, in its zeal to become the data capital of the country, has extended unprecedented tax credits to the richest corporations in the world."

Resident Jane Wolf urged the board to take strong action. "Put yourselves on the line. Those people will listen to you better than they will listen to us. Please put yourselves, your jobs, and your comfort on the line to stop this for us," Wolf said. She added, "Get creative. Tear up the road. Block the road. Break the law. Do whatever you need to do for us. You will be remembered better in history for the job that you did if you can get creative and really put yourselves out there."

Board Supervisor Brend Stumbo expressed opposition to the project. "This is going to harm our community in our future. We will fight to our very last breath, but we need help. And we need it from the people who have the power to stop things," Stumbo said. He acknowledged residents who brought early concerns to the board, stating, "Now we know and we're thankful for the residents and non-residents that came to our meetings early and told us, 'don't trust UofM.'" The proposed data center is intended to run simulations for nuclear weapons development.