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Survey Shows That 47% Oppose the Construction of New AI Data Centers in Their Neighborhood
EDITORS: THIS HAS BEEN PRODUCED BY SOFTWARE UNDER DEVELOPMENT - THE CONTENT MAY REQUIRE EXTENSIVE EDITING
This survey appears to highlight the growing opposition to data center construction in America. Around half of all previously announced data center projects have been delayed or cancelled entirely [tomshardware.com]. Often this was for financial or component supply issues — such as Chinese power transformer shortages — but growing opposition from local lawmakers and communities about their impact on water and air quality [tomshardware.com], and electricity prices, has also been a factor.
In total, 47% of respondents said they opposed the construction of new AI data centers in their neighborhood, with just 38% saying they supported it. That support was spread differently throughout various age ranges, however.
Of those questioned, 50% of Millennial age respondents said they either somewhat or strongly supported the creation of new AI data centers in their neighborhood or local area. This was closely followed by 48% of Gen Z respondents. There was a large drop off after that, with only 38% of Gen X saying they supported their creation. Baby boomers were the least enthusiastic, with just 22% claiming they felt the same.
In what is perhaps an example of the current U.S. administration’s influence and its entanglement with top tech firms, 49% of surveyed Republicans claimed they would support new data center creation in their local area. This stood in stark contrast to just 36% of Democrats. A causal trend could also be drawn from the fact that Republican voting states and counties tend to be more rural, with less economic activity. Data center projects do require construction, and there is the potential for local job creation.
When it came to homeowners and renters, surprisingly, it was the homeowners who were more likely to support it, with 39% versus 36% of renters claiming they either somewhat or strongly supported new data center development in their neighborhood.
City councils that back data center projects are being voted out [tomshardware.com], other city councils are putting moratoriums on data center construction [ktul.com], and instances of more extreme violence towards AI companies and their employees are becoming more common. [washingtonpost.com]
Although this latest survey does show that there is some support for data center creation, the fact that the opposition is in the majority suggests that any data center projects that haven’t already been delayed or postponed are likely to face increasingly terse pushback that could derail their eventual development entirely.
Considering this survey was from November 2025, too, there has been further evidence of pushback against hyperscalers [tomshardware.com]in recent months.
That’s a core component of many people’s misgivings with AI in general. Executives aren’t increasing their returns because of it, and companies are finding it hasn’t boosted productivity [tomshardware.com] much either. It’s also becoming ever more expensive to run [tomshardware.com]. Although there are outliers, the companies appearing to benefit the most from AI are the companies developing it [tomshardware.com], although they aren’t making anything close to a profit, aside from the chipmaking industry itself.
Even the hyperscalers like Oracle, which have received hundreds of billions of dollars worth of compute orders since the large-scale AI buildout began in 2025, are heavily reliant on AI developers like OpenAI paying their bills. Considering OpenAI specifically is struggling to make the kind of money [tomshardware.com] that would allow it to make good on those orders, the list of beneficiaries of new data center developments could be small.
