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Former U.S. senator urges Chandler to embrace AI data hub at Price Road site
Summary
Former U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema told the City Council on Oct. 16 that Chandler should position itself to host an AI data center at the Price Road Innovation Campus, calling AI a "national security imperative" and noting the Chandler Planning Commission voted 5‑1 the previous night to advance an AI hub proposal.
Former U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema told the City Council on Oct. 16 that Chandler should position itself to host a high‑performance AI data center at the Price Road Innovation Campus, saying the technology is a ‘‘national security imperative’’ and that local action could attract AI investment and jobs.
Sinema told the council that Arizona is one of five states well‑positioned for AI infrastructure and that Chandler, which played a leading role in the semiconductor industry, can lead again as the ‘‘AI revolution’’ arrives. She said the Chandler Planning Commission approved an AI hub proposal 5‑1 the night before and urged the council to act while the city can still shape the project.
"AI is a national security imperative," Sinema said. "We wanna ensure that American AI is globally dominant." She described AI data centers as materially different from older data centers and said they provide the compute power that next‑generation companies require.
Sinema acknowledged there are critics who dispute whether an AI center fits the Price Road corridor plan, and she said a traditional data center that stores routine data is not comparable to the high‑compute facilities envisioned for AI research and development. "A regular data center that holds cat memes and your 7 year old bank accounts is not a job driver," she said. "AI data centers are different. They are the Lamborghini when compared to the old data centers."
The remarks were an unscheduled public appearance; Sinema did not present a specific development application to the council during the three‑minute public comment period. She said she expected an AI hub proposal to come before the council in the coming months and urged council members to consider the potential for long‑term economic benefits.
Council members did not take immediate action during the public comment period. Planning commission action cited by Sinema (a 5‑1 vote to advance the AI hub) occurred at a separate meeting and is not a city council vote.
Why it matters: An AI data‑center proposal would involve land‑use decisions and potential impacts on jobs, utility demand and local infrastructure. Sinema framed the issue as time‑sensitive and argued that local approval would let Chandler set conditions and capture economic benefits.
Provenance: Topic introduced at 00:34:25 and last related remarks at 00:37:55 in the meeting transcript.
