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Datacenter Backlash May Be About AI Trust
The rapid buildout of AI infrastructure is facing growing public resistance, but a new survey suggests the opposition may be rooted less in local datacenter projects than in broader distrust of artificial intelligence, Big Tech and who stands to benefit from the AI boom.
The research, published in June by Milltown Partners, is based on a survey of 6,872 registered U.S. voters, including respondents in Texas, Georgia, Michigan, California and North Carolina, where major datacenter projects are underway.
The findings suggest that opposition to datacenters is increasingly linked to distrust about AI, Big Tech, and economic fairness.
Americans remain divided on data center development, with supporters, opponents, and undecided voters split into equal groups.
However, the report found that attitudes toward AI and large technology companies were a stronger indicator of opposition than whether someone lived near a datacenter.
That finding challenges the idea that resistance is simply a "not in my backyard" issue. As the report notes, "Opposition to datacenters is not primarily driven by proximity, but by broader concerns about AI, Big Tech, and economic fairness."
Instead, datacenters are becoming a visible symbol of wider concerns about AI adoption and the growing influence of large technology companies.
Resource use remains one of the biggest concerns. Respondents pointed to rising energy demand, water consumption, and pressure on local infrastructure as key objections. As AI models become larger and more powerful, the industry will need significant new datacenter capacity to support them.
Economic concerns also featured heavily in the research. Many respondents questioned whether the benefits of AI infrastructure would be shared by local communities or flow primarily to large technology companies. Concerns about affordability, fairness, and corporate influence appeared throughout the findings.
For the tech industry, which presents a challenge that goes beyond permits and construction. Building public support for AI infrastructure may require addressing broader concerns about trust, transparency, and the real-world benefits of AI.
As cloud providers and hyperscale operators continue investing billions of dollars in AI infrastructure, the debate is likely to intensify. The report suggests the industry's biggest challenge may not be building the technology but convincing the public that the benefits outweigh the costs.
As the researchers concluded, "the backlash against datacenters is about more than datacenters."