At the edges of the AI data center boom, rural America is up against Silicon Valley billions

The land around Hassayampa Ranch, 50 miles west of Phoenix, is dotted with saguaro cacti and home to coyotes, jackrabbits, and rattlesnakes. Its few hundred human residents were largely drawn by the tranquility and clear skies for stargazing. 

But several of the biggest names in Silicon Valley are suddenly very interested in what happens on this serene stretch of desert. The region once dominated by ranches and farmland is becoming a new kind of tech hub—one that’s largely unpeopled...