The AI data center conversation is reaching fever pitch

TL;DR: A Gallup poll published yesterday reveals a staggering majority of Americans (70%) don’t want AI data centers built near them. What’s more, nearly half of those surveyed ”strongly oppose” it. These numbers follow a trend that’s been in motion for a while: The communities surrounding data centers are losing water and energy, all while Big Tech is putting a lot of money toward pro-data center candidates in the midterms.

What happened: For the first time, Gallup polled sentiment surrounding data centers, with 56% of Democrats, 48% of independents, and 39% of Republicans saying they strongly oppose a data center being built in their area. Half of those surveyed said they oppose them because of their excessive water and energy use, and approximately a fifth cited quality-of-life concerns and the centers’ economic impact, like higher utility bills.

The International Data Center Authority found that "significant community and political pushback starts to occur in nations once their datacentre footprints have reached the 5% consumption level of national grids,” and data centers now use 6% of all energy in the US.

The scale behind the pattern: Tech companies are set to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on data centers just this year; globally, annual data center investment is nearing $1 trillion. To make these pricey purchases, many tech giants are actually having to borrow money: A recent US corporate bond sale by Amazon was the fourth-largest ever, and Meta sold $25 billion in bonds in April. After shelling out that much cash on infrastructure, Big Tech companies may be undeterred by local unrest from surrounding communities.

But the backlash is only increasing. In Mississippi, Elon Musk’s xAI is running 46 gas turbines that—because they’re classified as “mobile”—aren’t subject to air pollution regulations, all of which is the subject of a recent lawsuit. In Georgia and California, data centers are siphoning water and power from local pipes and utilities without penalty. "It’s like we don’t exist," one Lake Tahoe, California, resident told Fortune.

The spending on top of the spending: While Americans endure skyrocketing energy prices as a result of the Iran war, tariffs, and inflation, the AI industry is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to bolster public opinion of data center construction and regulation.

Tech VC firm a16z is currently the largest donor in the 2026 midterm elections at $115.5 million, beating out Musk by over $30 million. And the Leading the Future PAC backed by a16z, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale has raised $125 million to oppose Republican and Democratic candidates that support data center regulation.

Bottom line: On top of partisan battles in the midterms, a key talking point among candidates is data center regulation. As we inch closer and closer to November, this dispute only stands to get more contentious. —TC