SALINE, MI — More than 100 Saline area residents braved the cold Monday evening Dec. 1 to protest a $7 billion hyperscale data center project in Saline Township and DTE Energy’s plan to power the massive facility.

Local opposition has been growing against a 2.2 million-square-foot data center campus for ChatGPT creator OpenAI and the multinational tech firm Oracle to use to power artificial intelligence and cloud computing technologies. It would be Michigan’s first “hyperscale” data center.

Protesters packed all four corners of downtown Saline’s main intersection at Michigan Avenue and Ann Arbor Street. They chanted and held protest signs. Many motorists honked in support of their messages.

“No secret deals.” That was the predominant chant at Monday’s protest.

The protest came in adv

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