Willie Nelson, 93, posted an open letter on X on Tuesday directed at plans to build an AI data center near Abbott, Texas, the small town about an hour south of Dallas where he grew up and still owns a home and farmed land.
The letter was addressed to "whom it may concern and to everyone else as well." In it, Nelson wrote: "I grew up in Abbott, and I still have a home there with farmed land where I can still see stars at night. And now our community, like many others, needs to fight against data centers invading our land. The last thing we need is a loud, water thieving, light polluting, data center anywhere near our town (or any others for that matter)."
According to Billboard, it was not immediately clear at press time whether Nelson's letter was targeting a specific proposed project near Abbott.
Nelson argued that the strength of rural America has never come from large industrial operations, but from generations of people, open spaces, local businesses, and a connection to the land. He wrote that all of America deserves what he called thoughtful stewardship that protects farmland and the livelihoods of small family farmers, rather than data centers that he said only destroy the environment around them.
Nelson has spent more than four decades raising money and awareness for small American farms through Farm Aid, the annual benefit concert he co-founded. His opposition to the data center development fits within that long-running advocacy.
The letter comes at a moment of active political debate in Texas over AI infrastructure. After previously calling Texas the global epicenter of AI development, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has more recently pushed for a ban on AI centers in rural neighborhoods and called for stricter regulations on utility and water usage, citing concerns about the state's power grid and rising electricity rates.
Nelson closed his letter with a direct warning: "Whoever controls food and water, controls the masses. Let's not allow our own demise or give up control over necessary resources in the U.S. and especially in Abbott."
A May Gallup Poll found that seven in 10 Americans oppose local construction of AI data centers, with 48 percent strongly opposed and just seven percent strongly in favor.
