Nebius Group (NASDAQ: NBIS) stock turned sharply lower today, plunging as much as 10.5%. As of 2:32 p.m. ET, the stock was still down 10.1%. The catalyst that sent the artificial intelligence (AI) and neocloud specialist lower was a contentious public hearing about the construction of one of its data centers. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks " Image source: The Motley Fool. Public outcry Nebius Group has partnered with DataOne to construct a massive AI data center in Vineland, N.J. The 300-megawatt facility, which will mark Nebius' first major data center in the U.S., is expected to be the size of 45 football fields and to be a flagship facility for the company. The first phase is nearing completion, and Nebius has applied to increase the size of the location several-fold. However, a public hearing on Wednesday evening about a proposed expansion of the facility turned contentious as a packed house of city residents expressed concerns about a lack of transparency regarding the proceedings. Locals also questioned the impact of the data center on their quality of life, including issues related to water use, noise, and air quality. The meeting, originally scheduled to be held at City Hall, was moved to a local theater to accommodate the sizable crowd. The city planning board has yet to reach a final decision regarding the expansion, but investors are now concerned that the pushback from the local community could throw a wrench in the works. Just last month, Nvidia announced it owned a nearly 10% stake in Nebius. The neocloud operator builds data centers and supplies the necessary infrastructure -- including Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) -- that provide users with access to high-performance computing and enable AI, often referred to as GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS). There's been a growing outcry against the construction of data centers, as residents have expressed concerns about the electricity and water resources needed to power these facilities. Since no decision has been issued regarding the fate of the expansion, today's sell-off is a bit premature, in my opinion. That said, the situation bears watching. Should you buy stock in Nebius Group right now? Before you buy stock in Nebius Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now... and Nebius Group wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $400,155!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,345,502!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 956% -- a market-crushing outperformance compared to 214% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks " *Stock Advisor returns as of August 6, 2026. Danny Vena, CPA has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.