Societal malaise is fuelling anxiety over AI, and data centres are paying the price

Behind the backlash against data centres lies a growing sense that AI is accelerating people's loss of control over their own futures

As US voters look for a scapegoat to voice their fears, pushback against data centre expansion is a tangible act of resistance against an intangible panic

Data centres are on everyone’s lips, and US voters are poised to have them in mind too when they cast their ballots in November for the midterm elections. The issues that will determine the balance of power in the House, Senate, and State legislatures are becoming clear: cost of living, the Iran war, President Trump’s unpopularity and, increasingly, the growing opposition to the build-out of data centres across the country. And while the latter may not immediately seem directly related to the rest, its salience cannot be understood without realising a type of “weltschmerz” taking over American society.

It’s no secret that data centres are unpopular. Just last week, a survey found that 58% of registered US voters believed nationwide construction of AI data centres has a negative impact, vs 34% who thought it to be positive. 8 in 10 Democrats and 7 in 10 independents oppose data centres being built in their communities. Even within the Republican party, only 46% have a favourable opinion.

Democrats are pouncing on this sentiment – what started as a flagship issue for the progressive wing of the party during the primaries has now evolved to become a major rallying cry and a key campaign message as they look to sweep the midterms. In fact, most if not all Democratic candidates for governor support either stringent regulations or full-blown moratoriums on data centres.

Why has this topic become such a lightning rod for both red and blue voters? Why have traditionally business friendly counties and states turned against the tech companies? 

On the surface, data centre anxiety seems to centre around water usage, their effect on utility bills, and physical disruption of neighbourhoods and local communities. But it doesn’t quite add up to the scale of the backlash, given the extraordinary changes that technology has brought upon society in the last few decades.

Supporters would argue that the downsides are overblown. Data centres can use closed-looped cooling systems to reuse water, attract large sums of capital investment and tax revenues, and an increasing number of them are generating their own electricity or have pledged to do so. Moreover, despite their synergy with the climate change denying Trump administration, tech companies are still committed to the energy transition. But, even if data centres paid more tax, internalised all increases in utility prices, or liaised with local communities when planning their construction, they’d still be contentious.

What misses from this debate beyond the merits of each side of the argument is the acknowledgement that at the heart of this opposition is a deeper, existential fear. The emergence of new, all-encompassing technology can herald unprecedented eras of prosperity and innovation – the industrial revolution, the creation of the internet, or mass communications brought unparalleled societal progress. But with innovation ushering socioeconomic change also comes unease and distrust. We are firmly in the era of AI angst.

The AI boom is happening at a time of falling standards of living and economic stagnation. Purchasing a house is increasingly out of reach for swathes of the population, entry-level job opportunities are shrinking, and overall life milestones are being delayed. Many people feel they are simply losing control of their material outcomes and their own destinies.

This is happening alongside a growing sense of powerlessness over technology and AI. Unease over the development of artificial so-called “super” intelligence is turning into outright hostility as people experience the advance of a technology they cannot see and certainly cannot control.

For much of the American population, data centres are the physical embodiment of this fear. Without data centres, there is no AI boom, so by curtailing their development and build-out, they can put a physical stop to an abstract force. It’s simply an attempt to regain control over the uncontrollable.

This is the key problem data centres are facing. Regardless of how much they attempt to address the concerns outlined here, the animosity towards them will remain if tech companies are still seen to be at the forefront of an unstoppable, spiralling transformation.

It’s far too late to change this inherent animosity towards data centres before the midterms, but AI and tech companies have their work cut out to heavily change public opinion in the long term. If the fear and distrust of AI and technological progress remains, the opposition to their physical manifestation will exponentially grow, threatening a once-in-a-generation revolution in the US and the globe.