this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2026
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Michigan residents sue AI data center emitting noise 24/7 — company fined for industrial noise ordinance violations, offers to buy homes from residents (www.tomshardware.com)
submitted 14 hours ago by Some_Emo_Chick@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Residents of Dowagiac, Michigan, just filed a lawsuit against a data center that allegedly generates a high-pitched whining sound — and has done so 24/7 for the past two years.

The data center, which is owned by Alliance Cloud Services LLC, a subsidiary of Hyperscale Data, used to be an industrial building that sat behind a row of pine trees across the street from the most affected residents, according to ABC-affiliateWXYZ. The site started development in 2018 and was eventually turned into a cryptocurrency mining center in 2021. But in 2024, something changed drastically when the building started emitting noise pollution around the clock. Residents say it sounds like a vacuum cleaner in their living room, and the company has offered to buy up homes from unhappy residents.

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[–] HeartyOfGlass@piefed.social 7 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Why aren't the datacenter owners ever willing to spend, say, $10 million on making the data center actually quiet instead?

I think you know the answer to this - $10 mil on soundproofing doesn't make the Bottom Line go up. The only people they're trying to please are the folks that profit off the company.

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I think you know the answer to this - $10 mil on soundproofing doesn't make the Bottom Line go up

Neither does buying out 10 million worth of houses.

[–] HeartyOfGlass@piefed.social 3 points 8 hours ago

I didn’t see anywhere in the article where they say they were going to buy the houses for that amount. Do you have other information?

'Cause otherwise - those homes have been severely devalued because of that data center. Unless the CEO was feeling generous (ha), those homeowners would be forced to sell for a bottom-of-the-barrel price. And that is much cheaper than litigation.