KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — States across the county are competing to attract the data centers that serve as the brains of the Internet, usually by offering tax breaks.

An Associated Press analysis of state revenue and economic-development records shows that government officials extended nearly $1.5 billion in tax incentives to hundreds of data-center projects nationwide during the past decade. The actual cost to taxpayers is probably much higher. In many cases, cities and counties forgave millions more in local taxes.

The benefits are debatable. Although they cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build and equip, the centers employ relatively few workers. That means they produce little in the way of new income taxes but could provide a surge in property and sales taxes — if governments don’t waive those taxes, which many do.