Offered Rp 471 Billion, Mother-Daughter Farmers Instead Expel AI Giant

A fantastic offer came from an artificial intelligence (AI) technology company to two female farmers in Kentucky, United States. The value reached US26.48million, equivalenttoRp471.34billion(atanexchangerateofRp17, 800/US), to purchase the family’s farmland. However, the offer was flatly rejected.

Delsia Bare (54) and her mother, Ida Huddleston (83), are the landowners targeted by the AI giant, which is strongly suspected to be Meta. From Bare’s land, the company offered to buy 463 acres (approximately 187 hectares) at a price of US$48,000, or around Rp854.4 million, per acre. Meanwhile, from Huddleston’s land, it offered to buy 71 acres at US$60,000, or around Rp1.07 billion, per acre.

Initially, both had signed an agreement. However, after learning that their land would be converted into a giant data centre with a capacity of 2.2 gigawatts, their stance changed drastically. Bare even cancelled the contract that had already been signed and expelled the company’s representatives.

‘Go away and never come back,’ Bare told the company’s representative, as quoted from a report by The Wall Street Journal.

For Bare, the land is not merely a financial asset. The land has been worked by her family for nearly 200 years, since it was first purchased in 1848, and once served as the family’s food source during the Great Depression in the US. She cited her religious beliefs as the main reason for rejecting the offer, while also expressing scepticism about the future of AI technology.

‘I believe artificial intelligence will be the downfall of humanity,’ Bare said.

This rejection has triggered social divisions in Maysville, a small town with a population of around 8,700. Residents are split between those who support and those who oppose the data centre project. According to local Economic Development Director Tyler McHugh, around 20% of residents are strongly opposed, 20% fully support it, and the remaining 60% just want the controversy to end.

On the other hand, the company had promised a number of compensations to the area, including a total land deal worth US$110 million, or around Rp1.958 trillion, to residents willing to sell, Rp267 billion (US$15 million) for emergency services, and up to Rp1.42 trillion (US$80 million) for water infrastructure improvements. The project was also claimed to create 400 permanent jobs.

Although many other residents were tempted and eventually sold their land, Bare and Huddleston remained steadfast in their position. Bare even took the project to court, and had to face her own neighbours in the legal process due to local regulations requiring lawsuits to be directed at parties who approved the zoning changes.

‘Even if I had Rp471 billion, I would still want to sit in this chair, drink coffee, and eat at my home as usual,’ Huddleston said, affirming that for them, comfort and family heritage are far more valuable than instant wealth from an AI technology giant.