Close to half of Americans strongly oppose building artificial intelligence data centers in their communities, according to a new Gallup poll released this week. The survey found 48 percent of respondents would generally "strongly oppose" construction of such facilities near their homes, reflecting growing public resistance to the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure across the country.
The polling comes as several states and localities have moved to restrict or more closely regulate data center development. In April, Maine became the first state in the nation to pass legislation barring large-scale data centers, while a Wisconsin city approved a referendum giving voters greater say over major tax-funded projects tied to local data center campuses.
What the Right Is Saying
Conservative critics of the data center restrictions argue they represent government overreach that could harm economic growth and American competitiveness in AI development. Business groups and Republican lawmakers contend that such facilities bring jobs, investment, and infrastructure improvements to host communities.
"These projects create well-paying technical jobs and inject millions in local tax revenue," said one industry spokesperson responding to the Maine legislation. "Banning them outright sends a terrible signal to businesses considering investing in these states."
Some conservative commentators have also framed restrictions as anti-innovation, arguing that limiting AI infrastructure could put the United States at a competitive disadvantage against China and other nations developing similar technologies. Property rights advocates have additionally questioned whether local governments should have broad authority to prohibit legal business activities on private land.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive advocates and Democratic lawmakers have largely welcomed the pushback against data center construction, framing it as a necessary check on unchecked corporate expansion. Environmental groups argue that AI infrastructure carries significant ecological costs, including massive energy consumption and water usage for cooling systems.
Community activists have pointed to the disproportionate impact of these facilities on lower-income neighborhoods and communities of color, where such projects are often sited. "Communities deserve a voice in whether their neighborhoods become sacrifice zones for tech industry profits," said one environmental justice advocate quoted in recent coverage of the Maine legislation.
Democratic state legislators sponsoring data center restrictions have emphasized the need for local control and environmental review processes that corporate developers currently bypass.
What the Numbers Show
The Gallup poll, conducted March 2-18 among 1,000 adults, found that combined opposition to nearby AI data centers totaled 71 percent when including both strong and somewhat opposing respondents. Twenty-seven percent expressed some level of support for such facilities.
Specifically: 48 percent strongly opposed construction; 23 percent somewhat opposed; 20 percent somewhat favored; and 7 percent strongly favored the development of AI data centers in their areas. The survey carries a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Additional data cited alongside the poll found that April marked the second consecutive month that AI was listed as the top reason for layoffs, according to an analysis of job cut announcements.
The Bottom Line
The Gallup findings suggest significant public skepticism toward AI infrastructure development in residential areas, even as federal and state officials weigh policies to accelerate domestic data center construction. The contrast between bipartisan legislative support for AI expansion and strong public opposition at the local level represents a potential fault line in technology policy.
What happens next: Additional states are expected to consider data center legislation similar to Maine's moratorium during upcoming sessions. Congress has also begun examining federal permitting reforms that could preempt some local restrictions on AI infrastructure projects.