Plurality of Americans Want Data Center Construction Halted

Populist politicians and media figures on both the right and left are growing more skeptical of artificial intelligence and the corresponding construction of data centers. That skepticism is increasingly reflected in public opinion, with a plurality of Americans now saying the U.S. should stop building data centers.

The negative sentiment is found across the board in polling. When asked by The Economist/YouGov whether they would support or oppose a new data center being built in their community, only 24% supported it, while 60% opposed it. No age, sex, race, or ideological group supported building data centers in their community.

This negative sentiment also applied to data centers overall, not just those being built near respondents. When asked whether building new data centers was good or bad for the country, only 22% said it was good, while 48% said it was bad.

Among those concerned about data center construction in their area, a recent Gallup poll found that 50% cited their drain on resources as a concern. This included 18% who cited water usage as a major concern, 18% who cited energy consumption, and 14% who cited broader environmental impacts. Fewer, 14%, said negative views of AI itself were their top concern.

Concerns about data centers have also reached the policy level. In March, the White House announced that major AI and data center companies, including Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI, signed a “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” stating that they would build their own energy infrastructure so that energy expenses “are not passed on to the ordinary household.”

Others have proposed much more sweeping policies. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have backed the “AI Data Center Moratorium Act,” which would pause the construction and expansion of data centers used for artificial intelligence.

Going further, Sanders said last week that he was introducing the “American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act,” which would create a sovereign wealth fund through a one-time seizure of 50% of AI companies’ stock.

Sanders said the goal is to give the public a direct role in determining the future of AI technology, which he believes could become the most transformative technology in history. He also argued that the profits generated by AI companies should not flow primarily to a small group of executives and tech workers, but instead be “used to improve the lives of all of us — not simply to make the richest people in the world even richer.”

While both bills are very unlikely to become law in the near future, they’re a sign of things to come if a future president is more AI skeptical than the current administration.

Because of their skepticism toward data centers and concerns about their energy demands, Americans are increasingly receptive to some of these policy proposals. In the latest Morning Consult poll, 45% said the United States should stop building data centers to reduce electricity demand, while only 38% said the country should continue building data centers and increase electricity supply. According to the poll, both Republicans and Democrats preferred stopping data center construction to expanding both data centers and electricity generation, though Democrats favored that position by a larger margin.