Data Center's Constant Whine Prompts Neighbors' Lawsuit

Life next to one Michigan data center comes with a grating soundtrack some neighbors say never shuts off. Residents in Dowagiac describe a constant high-pitched whine from the Hyperscale Data facility—likened to a clogged vacuum cleaner—blaring at all hours and making it hard to open windows, sit outside, or sleep, reports WXYZ. You can listen for yourself in this video, or in this TikTok clip. It is indeed a "horrible whine," declares a post at Futurism. Or as neighbor Billy Finn tells WXYZ: "You've seen movies and stuff where they have somebody in a cell torturing them with sound. And that's basically what it is."

The city adopted its first industrial noise limits in March and has fined the company, Hyperscale Data, which began as a bitcoin mining operation and says it is shifting to AI and cloud computing, per the Detroit Free Press. The company disputes the noise violation readings, and neighbors frustrated with the lack of resolution have filed what is described as a first-of-its-kind class-action lawsuit against the data center. "The allegations in the lawsuit are nuisance and negligence essentially," says attorney Laura Sheets, who is representing the residents.