New polling suggests that most Americans are against artificial intelligence data centers built near where they live, signaling that the Trump administration‘s efforts aimed at rapidly expanding development to win the AI race may be losing public support.
A Gallup survey conducted in early March found that seven out of 10 Americans oppose building AI data centers in their area, with nearly half (48%) strongly opposed. Around 23% of respondents said they somewhat opposed data centers being built in their areas, while only 27% said they were in favor.
This opposition to data center development is far greater than the resistance to nuclear power plant construction seen in the same survey.
Gallup found that around 53% of Americans said they were opposed to building a nuclear power plant in their region, down from a peak of 63% more than 20 years ago.
Much of the opposition to data center growth has been tied to the facilities’ extensive use of resources, as well as environmental pollution and the effect on local consumers’ energy bills.
A separate survey conducted by Gallup in April found that at least 50% of those opposed to data center construction cited effects on resources, including water, energy consumption, farmland, and deforestation.
Another 22% cited quality-of-life concerns, including property values, size of land required for the facilities, increased traffic, and an impact on residents’ health.
