St. Louis County Commissioner Ashley Grimm poses for a portrait outside the St. Louis County District Courthouse Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 in Duluth, Minnesota. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)

DULUTH, Minn. ( Minnesota Reformer ) — Leaders in small Minnesota communities are helping big tech companies dot the state with gigantic computers used to power AI, often under the cloak of code names and nondisclosure agreements — which legal experts and residents say is damaging public trust.

City councilors, mayors and other elected officials across the state have been aware for months, even years, of various massive AI data center proposals, while sharing little to no information publicly until the projects are set in motion — often bound by secrecy agreements.

The City of Hermantown,

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