How the AI Boom Sparked a Housing Crisis in One Texas City

One man with a walker approached Prado outside of the Hope Haven offices—an Abilene nonprofit where Prado works, which operates a shelter and helps people with vouchers find housing—and accepted a jacket from him. “The AI plant took all the housing, man, I can’t find nothing,” he told him. “I can’t execute my voucher.” 

“I know, buddy,” Prado responded. “I’m having the same problem.” 

A year ago, President Donald Trump announced that Abilene would be the epicenter of America’s AI future. The West Texas city would be the first site of Stargate, a $500 billion infrastructure project to build data centers for future AI models, including ChatGPT. “AI seems to be very hot: It seems to be the thing that a lot of smart people are looking at very strongly,” Trump said at the White House. “Our country will be prospering like never before.”

Abilene leaders say that Stargate has already boosted many small businesses around town and will bring in millions of dollars a year in property tax revenue alone—even after accounting for the massive tax breaks they received. But the city is currently in the midst of a housing crisis, several local community workers and housing experts told TIME. They contend that the city was not prepared for the drastic economic changes the data center would bring, leading to tangible harms. Thousands of out-of-state construction workers have flooded the area, driving up rental prices and forcing vulnerable people to the streets.