Virginia governor creates an AI task force and moves to restrain data centers

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger has ordered a package of state actions aimed at increasing scrutiny of data center development and examining risks from artificial intelligence. Under Executive Order 22, state executive-branch officials are barred from signing nondisclosure agreements related to data center projects. The order also directs agencies to move quickly on noise regulations and to review how data centers operate backup generation systems used for power resiliency.

The executive order creates an AI task force tasked with assessing how the state can address harms to Virginians tied to AI technologies, including concerns such as workforce displacement and data privacy, and how existing laws might be applied to AI-related harms. Spanberger’s administration also released a “Data Center Accountability Framework” outlining further priorities: removing certain by-right approvals that previously allowed development without extra local review, reevaluating some state subsidies, setting environmental guardrails, and protecting residents from data center–linked increases in energy costs.

Spanberger’s actions come as states nationwide take data center and AI policy actions in the absence of sweeping federal measures. The Verge notes contemporaneous executive initiatives from California Governor Gavin Newsom and prior measures by New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Texas Governor Greg Abbott addressing AI safety and data center growth. Environmental and local groups responded variably: environmental organizations praised the move, while some advocates such as the Piedmont Environmental Council said the plan does not fully address existing development already built or in the pipeline and continue to call for stronger measures like a moratorium.

The new directives aim to give communities a larger voice in approvals and to slow the pace of data center expansion in Virginia, a state long known as a global data center hub. By limiting nondisclosure agreements and pushing regulatory reviews, the administration intends to increase transparency and examine operational practices that affect local residents and infrastructure.