Camelback Productions founder Anita Verma-Lallian is planning a 1,400-acre, AI-powered production and entertainment complex west of Phoenix, Arizona, which she says would become the largest film and entertainment site in the United States. The scheme combines backlots, a Universal Studios-style theme park, hotels, shops, residential space and an AI and tech centre, all powered by an on-site data centre, and reflects Verma-Lallian's belief that Arizona offers a cheaper, non-union alternative to Los Angeles for film production. The project is likely to prove contentious given widespread public unease over data centres and concern among Hollywood unions about further productions leaving California, as well as unease about AI's growing role in filmmaking.

The development, costed at between $6 billion and $12 billion, is backed by private equity investors, construction loans and funding from Social Capital chief executive Chamath Palihapitiya. Maricopa County's Board of Supervisors has approved zoning for 1,000 of the 1,400 acres, and Verma-Lallian hopes to break ground within a year, rolling the project out in phases over the next decade. She says it will run on renewable energy, including solar power, with advanced water conservation measures, and insists AI tools are meant to cut costs and boost output rather than replace creative work, while stressing that any data centre would be sited away from residential areas.