AI and data centers are incredibly unpopular in every poll
The Verge Richard Lawler ● Covered by 71 sources
People really don’t want AI data centers built near them. A new poll says 61% oppose them, and even Trump voters are split.
Based on reporting by The Verge, Richard Lawler — read the original for the full story.
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The latest polling is a fresh reminder that AI’s real-world footprint is getting a colder welcome than the boosters hoped. In a New York Times and Siena University survey released Tuesday, 61 percent of 1,503 likely voters said they opposed building data centers to power AI tech. Only 14 percent strongly supported the idea.
That matters because data centers are where all the glossy AI talk runs into electricity use, land use, and the bill. The poll was taken in early September, before the recent slowdown chatter around AI safety, so it captures the mood before that debate got even louder.
The split gets more interesting when politics enters the room. Among 2024 Donald Trump voters, support and opposition were close: 49 percent support, 45 percent oppose. But the broader picture still tilts against the industry, and the people who voted for Kamala Harris — plus those who sat out the election — leaned the other way.
Politicians are already reacting to this kind of resistance. That’s the quiet story here: AI may still be sold as the future, but the hardware needed to run it is starting to look like a local problem, and local problems tend to get ugly fast.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
This is the part the AI crowd keeps stepping over: people don’t hate “innovation,” they hate the warehouse, the power draw, and the bill that shows up after the ribbon-cutting. The industry loves talking about open models and safety papers; voters are asking who gets the noise, the heat, and the substation. Funny how the “future” always seems to need someone else’s backyard.
Read more about this at: The Verge