A recent Gallup poll revealed that 70 percent of Americans would either somewhat or strongly oppose the construction of data centers in their communities, according to a feature published by WIRED examining the explosive backlash against AI infrastructure. The resistance has sparked attacks on public officials and tech executives, arrests at public meetings, and legislative moratoriums across the country. What started as local environmental concerns has morphed into a bipartisan populist movement that's uniting Americans from opposite ends of the political spectrum around shared anxieties about AI, job loss, and corporate power.
The scale and speed of the opposition has caught policymakers off guard. In recent months, at least a dozen states—including Georgia—have introduced data center moratoriums, with New York passing one into law. Countless cities and counties in deep-red areas like Hill County, Texas, have enacted their own bans or restrictions. National membership in Facebook groups opposing data centers exploded from under 100,000 in December to more than 500,000 by July. Protesters have been arrested, detained, or escorted out of public meetings in New Jersey, California, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Incidents include an attack on Indianapolis council member Ron Gibson, who supported data centers, and an attack on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed first-of-its-kind legislation ensuring "that local governments maintain the authority to reject data center development in their communities."
The feature reports that right-wing populists Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie were among the first national politicians to publicly criticize data center development, expressing concern about how proposed bans on state-level AI regulations could enable construction on private property through eminent domain. "Forcing eminent domain on people's private properties to link the future Skynet is not very Republican," Greene tweeted in June 2025, according to the article. Steve Bannon's War Room podcast, guided by anti-tech writer Joe Allen, regularly addressed AI concerns and helped stop the Trump administration's attempt to re-up a regulation ban at the end of 2025. Research published in June with a small sample size found that very few people opposed to data centers actually live near them, and most who oppose data centers are also skeptical of AI itself. One War Room segment described data centers as "weapons labs" that are "being turned onto the population," the feature notes.
The resistance has roots in multiple anxieties that transcend traditional political divides. The AI race following ChatGPT's release prompted tech companies to rush construction of massive hyperscaler facilities, often in communities with little transparency about power consumption, water usage, or environmental impacts. Elon Musk reportedly trucked unpermitted gas turbines to his Memphis xAI campus in a majority-Black neighborhood already burdened by pollution. A Washington Post article estimated that a single ChatGPT search consumed the equivalent of a bottle of water. Electric bills climbed as new data center loads caused utilities to project soaring demand, while economic outlets claimed data center construction now underpins much of the US economy. Tech CEOs publicly speculated about AI replacing human jobs and creativity, fueling resentment among residents who see powerful corporations building mysterious infrastructure in their backyards for uncertain purposes. The movement's environmental advocates, religious critics, and right-wing populists share common ground: distrust of tech oligarchs and fear that AI development prioritizes corporate profit over human welfare.
The populist coalition may be fragile. The article describes how the Humans First organization, a bipartisan AI safety group that recruited Allen to galvanize opposition, split along partisan lines in late March after pro-AI White House allies criticized it online. The conservative wing kept the name and installed Amy Kremer, who helped organize the January 6 rally, as chair. In mid-April, Humans First organized a national day of protest against data centers with events in nearly 150 counties across 42 states. Whether the movement can sustain unity while navigating deep ideological differences remains uncertain, but the intensity of opposition suggests Americans are demanding a say in how AI infrastructure reshapes their communities. The challenge for policymakers is finding middle ground between rejecting technology wholesale and giving Big Tech carte blanche—a balance the current political system may struggle to strike.