Americans Really Don’t Want New AI Data Centers, Poll Suggests
Americans are the least in favor of building new artificial intelligence data centers compared to other major countries, according to a new Public First poll. The survey found that U.S. voters were the least likely…
Americans are the least in favor of building new artificial intelligence data centers compared to other major countries, according to a new Public First poll.
The survey found that U.S. voters were the least likely among 15 large countries — including Japan, Canada, Brazil and the U.K. — to support building new AI data centers, Financial Times (FT) reported on Thursday. Twenty-six percent of Americans surveyed backed increased construction of AI data centers, while about 30% of British, German and French voters supported such initiatives.
Support for data centers was the highest in Nigeria and India, where 74% and 65% respectively said they supported more construction, the poll shows.
“Our research shows America, the home of Silicon Valley and the majority of the biggest tech companies, has the population least in of the very infrastructure needed to support that sector,” Public First Head of Opinion Research Seb Wride said in a statement.
About 37% of those who voted for Trump believed more projects should be built, while less than a quarter of those who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 said the same, per the poll.
The new polling comes as many Americans have cited concerns about AI data center’s energy needs, environmental issues and water usage. Mid-sized data centers can consume as much water as a small town, according to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Larger facilities may require up to 5 million gallons of water per day.
Data center power usage is expected to climb to almost 2967 trillion watts per hour by 2030, according to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Institute for Human Rights blog.
Monterey Park, California residents voted on a permanent ban on data centers on Tuesday, marking the first such ban nationwide, SF Gate reported.
Other recent polling has similarly found that many voters across the nation oppose data center projects. A Gallup surveyreleased in May found that 7 in 10 Americans oppose building AI data centers in their local communities, including 48% who are strongly opposed, while just 7% strongly favored such projects.
The White House has previously promoted building data center infrastructure nationwide. Trump notably unveiled an AI action plan in July 2025, in which he claimed the U.S. needs to prioritize building and maintaining “vast AI infrastructure and the energy to power it.”
“To do that, we will continue to reject radical climate dogma and bureaucratic red tape, as the Administration has done since Inauguration Day,” according to the action plan. “Simply put, we need to ‘Build, Baby, Build!’”
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