The Industry — How Noisy Are America’s Largest Data Centers?

Author: Nic Carter (Castle Island Ventures; cross-posted on Pirate Wires / The Industry) URL: https://piratewires.substack.com/p/how-noisy-are-americas-largest-data One-line: “We can build far more computing capacity while expecting operators to take responsibility for the noise they create.”

Key claims

• This is the first systematic noise study of America’s 25 largest AI data center campuses (defined as 100 MW and up, ranked by Epoch); no prior comprehensive study existed despite the issue being intensely political with a simple empirical answer.
• Methodology: satellite imagery + proximity to residential clusters (minimum 5 homes) + land-use applications + AI-assisted analysis under Carter’s supervision; results yielded modeled dBA estimates, not acoustic measurements.
• 17 of the 25 campuses had no credible current operating-noise complaints. 3 campuses scored 5/5 for noise severity (most problematic): SpaceXAI Colossus 2 (near Memphis, TN), Meta Prometheus (New Albany, OH), and Google New Albany (OH) — all >450 MW and with noise sources <500m from residences.
• The two clearest risk factors: scale (>400 MW) combined with proximity (<500m to a residential cluster). All 5 campuses scoring 3 or higher shared those two characteristics.
• Onsite gas turbine generation adds dramatically to noise risk. An unsilenced aeroderivative industrial turbine can exceed 100 dBA — comparable to a jet engine. SpaceXAI’s Colossus 2 expanded from 3 mobile gas turbines in August 2025 to 69 by July 2026, placing them ~400m from a Brookhaven neighborhood.
• Amazon/Anthropic New Carlisle (Indiana), the second-largest campus at 910 MW, received the lowest noise concern score (1/5) despite its scale — the cooling units are 540m from the nearest residential cluster, producing a modeled 46.4 dBA, well within normal suburban background.
• The ~800m threshold appears to be the practical buffer: no data center further than 800m from the nearest residential cluster had any meaningful documented complaints.
• Adding “behind the meter” onsite gas generation — a trend driven by concerns about drawing from the grid — trades one problem (electricity rates for regional ratepayers) for another (noise for the nearest neighbors). Carter predicts a wave of noise complaints as more data centers follow the Colossus 2 template.
• Data centers currently under construction in North America total 66 GW; 77% are in “emerging frontier markets,” with West Texas the largest beneficiary — a trend driven by community opposition at suburban-adjacent sites. Carter projects two possible futures: hyper-rural sites with onsite generation (red-state template) or micro-data-centers as political opposition defeats large campus projects.

Notable quotes

Data centers emit low-frequency noise that is not loud enough to damage nearby residents’ hearing and rarely loud enough to violate noise ordinances. However, some nearby residents report that the constant noise generated by some data centers affects their well-being.

— Virginia preliminary study on data center noise, quoted by Carter

“There is shockingly little data regarding the noise impact of hyperscale data centers. The state of Virginia took a couple measurements. Individual projects sometimes include anticipated noise estimates to satisfy local ordinances. Residents sometimes record ad hoc videos on their phones. There have been a few one-off studies of individual data centers. But there has been nothing systematic — surprising, given how easy it would be to run a noise study of America’s largest data centers.”

— Nic Carter

“Virtually all the data centers over 500 meters from residential clusters had scores of 1 or 2, meaning no credible current operating-noise complaints, allegations, or concerns were identified. Even data centers within 500 meters were largely complaint-free if they were ‘small’ (under 400 MW).”

— Nic Carter

“Frankly, doing this analysis has made me much more sympathetic to the plight of residents who claim that these data centers are causing noise disturbances.”

— Nic Carter

“This basically trades one nuisance (grid strain) for another (noise). Alternatively, you could see it as shifting the burden from all the electricity ratepayers in the region, via a Regional Transmission Organization or Independent System Operator, to the very nearest neighbors surrounding the data center.”

— Nic Carter, on behind-the-meter gas generation

“The AI buildout will be much easier to defend if its nearest neighbors can sleep through it.”

— Nic Carter

“Supporting the AI buildout doesn’t require dismissing the people who bear its most immediate costs.”

— Nic Carter

How it connects

• Data Centers — the subject of the study; first systematic noise mapping of the 25 largest US AI data center campuses
• AI Infrastructure — broader context; the study is a response to the hyperscale AI buildout of 2025–2026
• Meta (Company) — Prometheus campus (New Albany, OH, 562 MW) scored 4/5 for noise; gas turbines ~220m from nearest homes
• Google — New Albany campus (453 MW) scored 4/5; cooling towers ~240m from residential cluster; permanent remedy scheduled December 2026
• Microsoft — Fairwater Atlanta (636 MW) scored 3/5; rooftop cooling ~160m from nearest homes; modeled 59.2 dBA
• Amazon — New Carlisle campus (910 MW) scored 1/5; the model case for how massive scale need not create noise problems when sited correctly
• OpenAI — Stargate Abilene TX (421 MW) scored 2/5; onsite gas turbines ~540m from nearest homes
• CoreWeave — operator of Stargate Abilene (Crusoe/CoreWeave); Carter and Castle Island are disclosed investors
• Crusoe — co-operator at Stargate Abilene; disclosed investor relationship with Carter
• Technological Innovation — the political and policy dimension: data center noise as a flashpoint for the AI buildout, with siting choices shaping public acceptance