Family turned down $26 million due to AI threat – story details

An American farming family from Kentucky refused $26.48 million for their ancestral land to prevent the construction of a data center. 82-year-old Ida Gaddleston and her 54-year-old daughter Delsia Bair explained their refusal by religious beliefs and fear of the Last Judgment. The developer, presumably linked to Meta, planned to build a hyperscale data processing center with a capacity of 2.2 gigawatts. Neighbors agreed to sell their plots, and local authorities support the project.

An American farming family from Kentucky refused $26.48 million for their ancestral land to prevent the construction of a hyperscale data center. 82-year-old Ida Gaddleston and her 54-year-old daughter Delsia Bair own 485 hectares in Mason County, which their family has cultivated for nearly two hundred years. Investors, presumably linked to Meta, offered record compensation, but the women sharply changed their minds upon learning the purpose of the construction. Delsia told the company representative: "Get out of here and don't come back." The women call themselves "God-fearing simple country women" and fear accountability before higher powers at the hour of the Last Judgment. The daughter claims that AI development will inevitably lead to the demise of humanity. Neighbors agreed to sell their plots, and local authorities support the project, promising infrastructure and 400 jobs. Ida Gaddleston expresses distrust of the authorities: "I say they are lying."