This story is an installment in The Tennessean's Q&A series On the Issues, where we asked the leading gubernatorial candidates to weigh in on some of the most pressing issues Tennessee’s next governor will face.
Data centers and the artificial intelligence they power have become increasing concerns technologically, economically and environmentally for Tennessee residents.
Several Tennessee communities including Nashville have banned or paused construction of new data center facilities. Elon Musk’s xAI facility in Memphis has sparked ongoing local pushback over emissions, delayed water infrastructure projects and fears of higher costs for ratepayers.
Meanwhile, the state has adopted basic regulations on AI, including the ELVIS Act that protects
artists' voices and likenesses, banning deceptive use of AI-generated deepfakes in political ads and banning AI from being legally classified as a person.
We got responses from all four candidates polling over 1%: Republican nominee U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Democratic nominee Jerri Green, independent candidate David Hatley and independent candidate Lauren Pinkston.
Here’s how each candidate plans to address AI and data centers.
AI is revolutionizing many aspects of life. What, if any, further regulations does Tennessee need to ensure workplaces and individuals are protected?
BLACKBURN: The United States must win the AI race, not allowing our foreign adversaries, like communist China, to get the upper hand on innovation. However, we must ensure that AI is being developed responsibly and that its costs do not fall on American families.
GREEN: We need robust protections for Tennessee workers whose jobs are threatened by rapid automation, strict guardrails against deceptive deepfakes and clear rules to keep AI out of our courts. We should ban its use in bail, sentencing or parole decisions. Building on past bipartisan wins like the ELVIS Act, we have to ensure emerging technology protects real people instead of exploiting them.
HATLEY: I’ll protect people from the harms of AI as they show up, and two are here now. The first is our kids: minors’ accounts private by default, unknown adults blocked from messaging a child unless a parent says otherwise, hard limits on selling children’s data or targeting ads at them, and a deadline for platforms to respond when a parent reports a threat. The second is Flock cameras. They’re helping solve crimes, but the system is flawed and invasive, and not fiscally responsible. People are getting stopped by police when it mistakenly identifies them as criminals, and the data is being abused to violate the privacy of ordinary citizens. That has to stop.
PINKSTON: AI can do a lot of good, but right now the people building it are moving much faster than the laws that protect the rest of us. Tennessee needs to catch up. I spent 15 years fighting human trafficking and exploitation, and I've seen how technology can be turned against people. I support the federal Take It Down Act, and I want Tennessee to go further by making it illegal to use someone's name, face or likeness in a deepfake without their consent, or to falsely show them doing something they never did. This is especially critical to protect the mental health and wellness of children and teens. Our musicians and creative workers are part of who we are as a state. I'll bring artists together with lawmakers to write practical rules on AI and licensing, so their work isn't copied without fair pay. I'll also close the loopholes in our data privacy law that let many data brokers and mid-sized platforms off the hook. Companies that profit from selling Tennesseans' personal data should tell people, in plain language, what they collect and what they earn, and share that revenue with the people it came from. A state registry run by the attorney general would let anyone see who holds their information and opt out in one place. Any data company that makes over $250 million in Tennessee should pay a stipend to its users for sharing their data with that company. Addressing Tennessee’s right to work laws against a need for collective bargaining against tech giants will be an important conversation for the future workforce. Finally, we should prepare our kids with classes on internet safety and responsible AI use.
Do you support construction of new data centers in Tennessee?
BLACKBURN: We must be intentional about how we regulate data center development. As with any emerging technology, we need to balance staying on the forefront of innovation with responsible growth, and the growth of data centers should always serve the interests of Tennesseans first and foremost. Local communities should decide if and where they are placed.
GREEN: Only if they play by the rules, respect our natural resources and put local communities first. Right now, massive data centers are straining our local water infrastructure, spiking utility bills for everyday ratepayers and driving up emissions, while tech giants get special treatment. As noted in our platform, we must stop AI and tech companies from running polluting, unpermitted power plants in our neighborhoods.
HATLEY: Not until Tennessee writes real rules. I’d pause new approvals and end the giveaways: no PILOTs, no abatements. Build here, pay your way, be welcome. But for now, the new ones wait until we have rules that benefit Tennesseans, not out-of-state corporations.
PINKSTON: I was the first candidate for governor to call for a statewide pause on new data center construction until the legislature passes real siting standards, which should cover water use, distance from schools and public institutions, and community input requirements before anything is approved. When a data center was proposed next to the Nashville Zoo, I signed the petition against it because Tennesseans deserve a say before the bulldozers arrive. Once those standards are in place, I'll make sure growth pays its own way and that private citizens have a say in the growth that comes to their communities. Growth brings new demands on roads, water systems, schools and the power grid. If a company wants to build here, it should cover the infrastructure it needs and help pay for the strain it puts on everyone else. I want those dollars going back to the counties and towns that host these projects, not disappearing into Nashville. Tennessee should welcome investment, but we shouldn't have to subsidize it out of our own pockets.
How can the state protect residents against emissions harms and ensure that energy costs remain stable for rate payers, not subject to increases directly related to data centers?
BLACKBURN: The Ratepayer Protection Pledge was an important step in standing up for consumers and ensuring that ratepayers are protected from costs associated with the expansion of AI data centers. In the Senate, I introduced a national framework for artificial intelligence to make certain that our children, creators, conservatives and communities are protected from potential harms of AI, while still allowing businesses to be free to innovate, and I have fought Big Tech to protect Tennesseans.
GREEN: We must implement strict guardrails that prohibit utility companies from passing the cost of data center energy demands onto everyday homeowners and small businesses. Tech companies must pay for their own infrastructure upgrades, water usage and clean energy offsets rather than forcing working families to subsidize their power usage.
PINKSTON: First, we need rules before the next site is chosen. Communities near these facilities, like the neighborhoods in Memphis around xAI, deserve to know what they're breathing before a project moves forward, not after. Tennessee should set clear protections for water, soil and noise pollution that negatively impacts citizens. Second, any data center should invest directly in the local utility and cover its own grid upgrades, and those local utilities should retain the authority over the power tied to the supplier so it can be cut off when needed. I support TVA's move to charge data centers more, and we should go further, with transparent ratepayer impact studies before approval. Data centers should not be another reason Tennesseans pay more for electricity.
HATLEY: I will protect families from power and water rate increases caused by data centers. I’d propose a Tennessee Data Center Ratepayer Protection Act. Every large new data center goes on its own electricity rate, to the extent federal law and TVA contracts allow. It pays the full cost of the power it uses and the substations and transmission lines built to serve it, signs a long-term contract and posts financial security so ratepayers aren’t left holding the bill if it shuts down. None of that cost lands on families or small businesses. Water use gets disclosed and fully paid for. Emissions get monitored and reported publicly. The county decides whether it wants the project at all. And at least half the new tax revenue a data center generates goes directly to cutting property taxes for homeowners in the county hosting it.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: On the Issues: How governor candidates would handle AI, data centers
