# Georgia residents sue OpenAI and county officials over Project Camellia approvals

_Published Wednesday, November 11, 2026 at 12:21 PM EST · Infrastructure, Policy · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

![OpenAI data center — Primary](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/rqn39aj9hMqYUZdPPwgxYd-2000-80.jpg)

Residents of Effingham County, Georgia, have filed a civil racketeering lawsuit against OpenAI, its affiliates and county officials over approvals for Project Camellia, Tom's Hardware reported. The plaintiffs seek damages and allege that confidential negotiations, misleading statements, improper land transactions and zoning violations advanced the data center project while keeping residents uninformed.

The planned development has five phases, an expected cost between $20 billion and $30 billion, and planned compute capacity of 3.2 gigawatts. Residents allege damage to property values, including reduced or withdrawn purchase offers. OpenAI has promised to pay the full cost of required infrastructure upgrades and use a closed-loop water system.

## Sources

- [Tom's Hardware](https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/georgia-politicians-openai-slapped-with-racketeering-lawsuit-over-3-2-gigawatt-ai-data-centers-plaintiffs-allege-multiple-violations-were-part-of-a-coordinated-scheme-to-get-project-camellia-approved)

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Canonical: https://techandbusiness.org/newswire/5wUh_MsqnV_7jPujji2kkh
Published: 2026-11-11T17:21:51.613Z
Story chronology: 2026-11-11T16:30:00.000Z
Retrieved: 2026-11-12T01:03:10.518Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)