Georgia Residents Sue OpenAI and Local Officials Under Racketeering Law Over Data Centre

The complaint was filed on November 6 in Effingham County State Court by Dr. Michelle Finch-Mincey, Lehman Mincey Jr. and Raymond Carver, according to WJCL, a television station in Savannah. Besides OpenAI, it names the affiliate Octans GA, the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority, Savannah Industrial Development and several unnamed county and development officials. The plaintiffs want compensatory and punitive damages, treble damages from the defendants named in the racketeering count, legal fees and a jury trial, but the complaint does not name a dollar figure.

The case brings a new kind of legal risk to AI infrastructure. US data centre projects have faced opposition mostly through zoning appeals, moratoriums and local votes. Georgia's racketeering statute allows triple damages, so a suit framed this way raises the cost of losing for the developer and for the public bodies that approved the project.

Project Camellia is planned for about 1,440 acres at the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub. The plans include more than 4 million square feet of buildings and about 3.2 gigawatts of power capacity. The development agreement contemplates about $20 billion of investment, according to WJCL. DatacenterDynamics and Tom's Hardware put the project's value at $30 billion.

According to WJCL, the residents allege that OpenAI and officials began confidential talks in 2025 and that nondisclosure agreements stopped officials from sharing information with the public. They say Savannah Industrial Development, acting as agent for the development authority, signed land purchase agreements with Octans in May and July 2026, before the authority's board had considered the project. The authority and Octans signed a development agreement on July 21, and the project was announced the next day.

The plaintiffs argue that the authority improperly delegated its powers by letting a private developer sell public land on its behalf. They also challenge a county zoning amendment passed on August 4. It was presented as a technical correction, but the plaintiffs say it changed where data centres could be built and removed a layer of site-specific review for some industrial properties. They allege it was approved without the public hearings that state law and the county ordinance require.

The complaint also argues that OpenAI's later announcements of school meal support and a community fund were meant to build public support after the key decisions had been made. The residents say offers on nearby homes have fallen or been withdrawn since the project became public.

It cites County Manager Tim Callanan, who said in July that the campus was a "use-by-right" development that the company was entitled to build. Ben Michaud, the residents' lawyer, said the case was not an attack on AI. "It is a demand for transparency and accountability," he said in a statement.

None of the allegations has been tested in court. The reports on the filing did not include responses from OpenAI or the other defendants, who have not yet filed answers to the complaint.