Kentucky woman rejects $26 million offer to turn her farm into a data center

Ida Huddleston, an 82-year-old farmer from Northern Kentucky, has rejected a $26 million offer from a major artificial intelligence company to purchase part of her family's 1,200-acre farm near Maysville for a proposed data center. Huddleston and her family have prioritized preserving their farmland over the financial gain, expressing concerns about environmental impacts, loss of agricultural land, and skepticism about the promised economic benefits. She criticized the project as a "scam," doubting it would bring meaningful jobs or growth to Mason County. Despite the family's refusal, the AI company has revised its plans and filed a zoning request to rezone over 2,000 acres in Northern Kentucky, indicating that the data center development may still proceed adjacent to Huddleston’s property. The situation highlights ongoing tensions between rural land preservation and large-scale tech infrastructure projects in the region.