Abstract:
A new poll jointly conducted by The New York Times and Siena College shows that American voters generally have a clear opposition to the construction of data centers to support artificial intelligence technology. Among 1,503 likely voters surveyed in early September, 61% expressed opposition to the construction of such data centers locally, and only 14% expressed "strong support." This result shows that social controversy surrounding the construction of AI infrastructure is expanding.
The survey shows that opposition to data center construction does not lie entirely along traditional party lines. Among the respondents who support Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, 49% expressed support for the construction of AI data centers, and 45% expressed opposition. The proportions of both parties are relatively close. Among the respondents who voted for Kamala Harris in 2024, 74% opposed the construction of data centers; among those who did not participate in the 2024 election, the opposition proportion also reached 67%.
For respondents who have expressed opposition to the construction of AI data centers, 56% hope to control the construction of data centers through restrictive measures, while 38% support a complete ban on construction. This means that although the opposition to data centers is large, they do not have completely unanimous views on what policy measures should be taken.
Environmental issues and water needs are the main concerns of opponents. Of all respondents opposed to building AI data centers, 32% cited environmental impact or water issues as the main reason. Another 21% are worried about the impact data centers will have on local communities, and 18% express their distrust or dislike of artificial intelligence itself. In addition, 10% of respondents were mainly concerned about regulatory issues, and 9% were concerned about the economic impact.
The reason why data centers have become the focus of controversy is closely related to the huge computing demands brought about by the rapid expansion of generative AI. Large AI models require a large number of servers and acceleration chips to run, and these devices not only consume a lot of power, but also require supporting cooling systems in data centers. As U.S. technology companies continue to build new AI infrastructure, some communities have begun to worry about issues such as power supply, water use, land use, and local living costs.
Other previous polls have also shown that the American public is not optimistic about AI data centers. An NBC News poll in March this year showed that artificial intelligence was even lower than other topics such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement in terms of attention from respondents. In May this year, a Gallup survey showed that about 70% of Americans opposed the construction of AI data centers in their communities.
However, the latest New York Times and Siena College surveys also show that although voters have a relatively negative attitude towards AI and data centers, this does not mean that they have become core issues affecting voters’ voting decisions. In the survey, artificial intelligence and data centers accounted for less than 1% of the “most important election issues” choices among most population groups.
Young voters are a notable exception. Among respondents aged 18 to 29, 3% cited AI and data centers as important issues in deciding their midterm election votes. Still, even among this age group, AI and data centers remain significantly less important than more traditional political issues such as the economy, foreign policy, inflation and attitudes toward Trump or the Republican Party.
The survey also asked voters which political party they trust more to handle issues related to artificial intelligence. Among the 554 respondents who answered this question, 40% chose the Democratic Party, 42% chose the Republican Party, and 18% said they did not know or refused to answer. At the same time, supporters of different parties are still generally more likely to trust their own party to deal with AI issues.
This result means that AI and data centers currently present a relatively special political landscape: public opposition to related infrastructure construction is already quite obvious, but this issue has not yet risen to a major position in determining the voting choices of most voters. At the same time, there are still different opinions within the American public on how to deal with the energy, environmental, community and regulatory issues brought about by the rapid development of AI.
As U.S. technology companies continue to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in building AI data centers, related disputes may continue to expand. Especially when data centers directly enter local communities and involve water and power supply, the contradiction between the development speed of the AI industry and the acceptance of local residents is becoming more obvious. This poll reflects the increasingly prominent differences in American society over the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure.
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