Silicon Valley Faces 73% Datacenter Backlash as AI Sours Across Party Lines
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 27
Silicon Valley Faces 73% Datacenter Backlash as AI Sours Across Party Lines
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 27
Summary
73% of Americans say datacenters’ costs outweigh their benefits, and villages, counties, cities and states are already imposing moratoria and bans on new AI-linked facilities.
70% of Americans now say AI is bad for society, while the share more concerned than excited has risen to 52% from 37% in 2021, including 55% of young adults.
That backlash reaches beyond local land-use fights: fears over job loss, extinction-risk rhetoric and distrust of tech elites have turned datacenters into the clearest public target for opposition to the broader AI push.
Washington is still leaning toward expansion — the EPA plans to scrap a public-input rule for air permits tied to datacenters and power plants — and bipartisan competition with China keeps political support for AI strong.
The clash leaves Silicon Valley confronting a problem it long discounted: democratic resistance to an industry that has already seen at least 75 projects worth $130 billion blocked or delayed.