Town Residents Sue Microsoft Over Data Center Noise

Microsoft's massive data center in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, is facing a federal class-action lawsuit from nearby residents who say the facility sounds like a never-ending freight train. Filed Wednesday, the suit claims the Fairwater data center—Microsoft calls it "the world's most powerful"—produces constant noise from diesel generators and cooling equipment and that Microsoft failed to install sufficient sound barriers, allowing disruptive noise to spill into the community of Sturtevant, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The suit resembles a complaint from a Mississippi community alleging an xAI data center sounds like an always-on jet engine.

One Sturtevant resident told regulators the construction pounding ran from "sunrise past sunset daily" for two years, followed by a new 24/7 mechanical hum "similar to the whirring engine of a freight train." Another resident described "noise all day and night" affecting his sleep, per PC Mag. The complaint seeks unspecified damages related to "the loss of use and enjoyment and the diminution of property values." Microsoft says it's "committed to being a good neighbor," has already made adjustments it says resolved the humming issue, and will continue to work on sound reduction; village officials report no new complaints since April but say they'll keep monitoring.