RINCON, Ga. – More than 500 people packed an OpenAI public meeting Thursday night as residents demanded answers about a proposed 1,400-acre data center campus, while hundreds more protested outside over concerns about water, noise and a lack of transparency. Attendees began gathering at the Effingham County College and Career Academy at 5 p.m. for the open house, which began an hour later and served as an informal opportunity for the community to learn about OpenAI's Project Camellia. The event followed OpenAI's announcement Wednesday that it plans to build a $20 billion, 1,400-acre data center campus at the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub in Rincon. The proposed development would be one of the largest artificial intelligence infrastructure investments in Georgia history and would require up to 3.2 gigawatts of electricity once fully operational — enough to power millions of homes. Effingham County residents were given just over 24 hours' notice of the meeting, but they still arrived in droves, wearing shirts and pins with messages such as "Say no to data centers." Outside, protesters held homemade signs reading "You can’t drink data” and "Protect our water" as sheriff's deputies directed traffic into the overflowing parking lot. Security personnel and metal detectors greeted attendees before they entered a room where dozens of OpenAI engineers, recruiters and executives from across the country staffed information stations and answered questions. Residents waited in lines to…
*This content (including text, artwork, graphics, photography, and video) was provided by the third party(ies) as referenced above. Any rights or other content questions or inquiries should be directed to such third-party provider(s).
