Reluctance towards AI data centers unites Americans

It seemed that there was no cure for polarization in American society. Yet – on one battlefield, populist sectors of both political sides, public opinion, even some politicians, mostly on the Republican side so far, if not counting Bernie Sanders, have united. Of course, this is about artificial intelligence, which everyone is already somewhat tired of as a topic of conversation, as fake-human voices for customer service of all kinds of institutions all the more, but we cannot afford to forget about it.

In recent years, huge AI data centers have been established in the agricultural and underdeveloped industrial parts of the United States – the population density in the USA is still only 37 people per square kilometer –. These are where answers to questions humanity asks chatbots every day are computed. They form the infrastructure for the AI revolution.

One of the largest is the 480-hectare Project Rainier of Amazon in Indiana. Rumbling across the entire area, such giants consume incredible amounts of energy (rapidly increasing electricity bills for local residents) and water, which is often lacking in underdeveloped regions of America, especially in the hot southwestern part of the country.

According to a Gallup poll from May 13, seven out of ten surveyed Americans oppose the construction of an AI data center in their neighborhood. After several years of experimentation, the opinion is that despite grand promises, they do not create new jobs, look unattractive (monotonous, low-rise buildings), generate noise, disturb people and animals, and in some cases cause traffic jams and even accidents.

Currently, for example, there is a protest in Utah against the Stratos project, approved by the local county in early May. It is supposed to be the largest AI data center in the USA – intended for storing military data. It will cover 16,000 hectares and will consume 9 gigawatts of energy – the same amount as the city of New York at peak.

By 2025, as many as 48 data center projects with an estimated value of 156 billion dollars have been blocked or suspended due to resistance from local communities. This year, this reluctance is intensifying, suddenly uniting figures from the American political scene such as left-wing intellectual and activist Astra Taylor and Daniel Horowitz from the conservative The Federalist Society. While progressive left sees AI data centers as driven by new authoritarian technology, the right sees them as a prelude to a police state.

People learn about the construction of an AI data center in their area in two ways. Most often, a rumor circulates that new jobs will soon appear. This was the case, for example, with Ula (The Hive), an early project that appeared in Mohave County, Arizona, in 2019. Residents did not know what to expect and had no say in the matter – along the desert highway, suddenly huge, flat, landscape-damaging buildings sprouted. The Republican county authorities, always supportive of new businesses, helped the project as best they could. In 2025, when the company Pegasus Group Holdings responsible for the project withdrew without completing it, the county decided to block further similar investments, joining a wave of similar initiatives in Arizona.

Residents also find out about the arrival of an AI data center in their town or village when the company behind the project needs something from local authorities and submits an application, for example, for rezoning. Such applications are discussed at biweekly residents’ meetings, in which some people participate remotely as well.

When the city or county council faces a controversial project, people who have the right to publicly share their doubts and fears about AI suddenly appear in their offices. How else can an ordinary person oppose algorithms that eat up jobs, deepfakes, and autonomous death-deploying drones? – ask Astra Taylor and Saul Levin in an article for The Guardian, explaining why people emotionally engage in protests.

Many look with astonishment at the astronomical profits of the main chip manufacturer in the USA, Nvidia, which just announced a profit of 58 billion dollars. No one believes anymore that new technologies will be a springboard for new jobs for the working class. “They come here thinking we’re stupid,” said one resident of St. Joseph County, where Amazon built Project Rainier. The new data center project indeed needs people – but only at the beginning. Already operating AI data centers do not require a large staff.

Local authorities check how the presence of an AI data center might affect electricity prices and water access in the area, as well as how it will impact the local labor market, environment, and the future of the community. Air and water pollution, as well as noise generated by data centers, can lead to health problems among people. Long-term effects may include increased risks of respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, mental health issues, stroke, diabetes, and reproductive damages. It is said that in a few years, the next generation of data centers will not need as much electricity and water, nor such extensive spaces. What will happen to the now unnecessary buildings then?

The distrust of residents and local authorities has consequences. Billion-dollar AI data center projects are being blocked, delayed, or canceled across the United States due to widespread grassroots resistance and local zoning restrictions. Broad opposition has led dozens of jurisdictions to introduce bans, moratoria, or strict legal regulations blocking new investments.

Trump himself found himself in a difficult situation, seeing the USA as a leader in AI development and data center construction, linking new technologies with national security and economic prosperity. His administration helped accelerate the construction of these giants, easing procedures, removing bureaucratic and temporal obstacles.

The president needs AI for the war in Iran (let’s recall the conflict, now resolved, between the Pentagon and the company Anthropic, which created Claude AI), and at this particular moment, to give all possible AI tools to American intelligence agencies, led by the CIA. On May 22, the White House confirmed the allocation of nine billion dollars for the purchase of the most advanced integrated circuits, which American intelligence agencies need to fully utilize the capabilities of the latest AI models.

On the other hand – although it was the CEOs of Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft who appeared at Trump’s second term inauguration in 2025 – Trump’s power was based on convincing voters that he is a populist and that he will defend the American way of life, which in rural America means the life of farmers. Neither they nor their representatives in Congress have a good opinion of Silicon Valley.

“There is no oversight, no regulations, no organization, absolutely no safeguards” – said Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller about data centers, a fervent supporter of Trump seeking re-election. “They can grow wherever they want, as often as they want, and occupy as much land as they want.”

Currently, there are over four thousand data centers in the USA, almost eight times more than in any other country. Thousands more are planned or under construction. Last year alone, only four companies – Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft – spent 400 billion dollars on investments. Most of this money funded the construction of data centers.

On Sunday, May 24, Fox News presented protests against data centers as anti-American, exploited by the same enemies of the state who agitate over Gaza, environmental issues, and Islam. The protests are supposedly sponsored by China, which is deliberately making artificial intelligence repulsive to people to replace the USA as the world’s greatest power.

Nothing is known about China sponsoring the outraged community of Lake Tahoe. Residents of this nearly fifty-thousand-strong town, located by a picturesque lake at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, just learned that in May next year they will be completely cut off from power. NV Energy, which has supplied them with energy for decades, announced that its capacities will be redirected to new data centers, and those living in Lake Tahoe will have to find a new power provider.

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