ASHBURN, Va. — First came the explosions, the heavy machinery and the red dust that coated the neighborhood. Soon after, towering, windowless buildings emerged just beyond a thin row of trees. Months after the construction noise faded, the silence gave way to a steady mechanical hum.
For homeowners on the tucked-away cul-de-sac of Statesboro Place in Loudoun County, Virginia, suburban life now shares a fence line with the infrastructure powering America's artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The facilities behind the neighborhood are operated by Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, two of the world's largest cloud computing companies. "It's like 150 feet away and just constant noise," one resident told Fox News Digital while looking out over the backyard on a rainy September afternoon.
"So far, they've planted some trees, thinking that would solve the issue." A SOUTHERN STATE JUST TOOK THE TOP SPOT IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S FASTEST-GROWING INDUSTRIES A Microsoft spokesperson told Fox News Digital the company is "actively meeting with nearby HOAs to address community priorities, including landscaping, lighting and noise, working to ensure that our development lives up to residents' expectations." An Amazon spokesperson said the company has "been part of Loudoun for 20 years" and that its local team has been working directly with residents and the HOA to address concerns. "We’re committed to building responsibly and being good neighbors," the spokesperson said. The residents interviewed for this story requested anonymity as they are engaged in ongoing discussions with the HOA and county officials.
One resident, who bought the home nearly a decade ago, said the hum extends beyond the backyards and can be heard along the community's walking trails. "Only two data centers are active right now and two additional ones are planned to be active next spring," the resident said, adding that neighbors fear the noise will only grow louder. The neighborhood sits in Loudoun County home to the world's largest concentration of data centers and one of the epicenters of the nation's AI infrastructure buildout.
Residents say they were drawn to the spacious lots, unobstructed views and quiet streets, all of which are now overshadowed by featureless buildings. THIS TINY FARMING TOWN YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF IS HELPING MICROSOFT SELL AMERICA ON DATA CENTERS As of March 2026, more than 230 data centers had been built or were under construction across the Virginia county, with another 116 projects in the pipeline. "When I moved in, it was an open field.
I had a nice backyard and there was not an ugly building to look at," another resident told Fox News Digital. The resident says the question isn't whether data centers should exist, but whether they belong so close to neighborhoods without a better understanding of how they affect the people living beside them. It feels that way." The data centers that transformed the landscape have also reshaped Loudoun County's finances.
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