The tech industry is facing fierce local backlash to data center projects around the country. But a new poll suggests national opinion is still up for grabs.
Cities from Madison, Wisconsin, to Chandler, Arizona, are rejecting new data centers — the hulking, server-packed complexes that make up the backbone of the booming artificial intelligence industry — citing everything from rising electricity costs to depleted water tables and air pollution.
Nationally, however, the tech giants behind the rapid rollout of data centers have a window to shape public opinion despite opposition they’re seeing on the local level, according to new results from The POLITICO Poll. The survey, conducted by London-based independent polling company Public First, found that most voters are blasé — even mildly positive — about the possibility of having a data center in their area, associating them with new jobs and other economic benefits.
