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Society & Work updated 1 min read

Poll: 61% of voters oppose AI data centers, but issue remains low priority

New polling data from the New York Times and Siena University reveals significant public resistance to the infrastructure supporting artificial intelligence. In a survey of 1,503 likely voters conducted in early September, 61% opposed the construction of data centers for AI, while only 14% strongly supported the initiative. The opposition was particularly strong among Kamala Harris voters (74%)…

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Key points

  • 61% of likely voters oppose AI data center construction, with only 14% strongly supporting it.
  • Environmental concerns and local community impact are the top cited reasons for opposition.
  • AI infrastructure remains a low-priority issue for most voters, ranking below economy and inflation.

The primary drivers for this opposition include environmental concerns, specifically water usage (32%), and negative impacts on local communities (21%). General distrust of AI technology accounted for 18% of the reasons cited. Despite the high level of opposition, the issue did not rank as a top priority for most voters when deciding their midterm ballot. For the majority of demographics, AI and data centers registered as less than 1% of their key concerns, trailing far behind the economy, foreign policy, and inflation.

When asked which party they trusted to handle the issue, voters largely aligned with their own political affiliations. Among the 554 respondents who answered this specific question, 40% favored Democrats and 42% favored Republicans, with 18% undecided or refusing to answer. This suggests that while public sentiment is negative toward AI infrastructure, it has not yet become a decisive partisan wedge issue in the current political landscape.

Full story from The Verge AI · by Richard Lawler Open source ↗

Voters mostly don’t like AI and data centers, but neither party seems to have an edge

The Verge AI · 15 September 2026

Poll data released Tuesday by the New York Times and Siena University confirms what we’ve already been seeing, and what politicians are responding to — AI and data centers are incredibly unpopular. Asked if they support or oppose the construction of data centers to power AI tech, 61 percent of the 1,503 likely voters surveyed in early September (ahead of the recent AI safety slowdown discussion) said they were opposed, with only 14 percent saying they strongly support. The split was about even among 2024 Donald Trump voters, at 49 percent support to 45 percent oppose, while people who had voted for Kamala Harris or who didn’t vote leaned oppose, at 74 percent and 67 percent, respectively. 56 percent of voters surveyed who said they were opposed to data centers said they supported limits, while 38 percent instead preferred a total ban. The list of reasons for opposition is also revealing, with the environment/water usage most common at 32 percent, impact on local communities at 21 percent, general distrust or dislike of AI at 18 percent, followed by regulation concerns and the economy at 10 and 9 percent. An NBC News poll in March showed AI polling lower than ICE, and a Gallup poll in May revealed seven in ten Americans opposed local construction of AI data centers. Still, the data released today ranked AI and data centers low on the list of issues that voters saw as most important in deciding their midterm vote. Across the board, AI and data centers registered at less than one percent for most demographics, with exceptions for younger voters like the 18-29 group, where three percent picked that one instead of the most popular responses like the economy, foreign policy, inflation, and opposition to Trump/Republicans. Voters in either party still overwhelmingly picked their own party as the one they trusted to handle the issue, while overall the 554 respondents had 40 percent favoring Democrats, 42 percent favoring Republicans, and 18 percent saying they didn’t know or refused.

This text was published by The Verge AI and written by Richard Lawler. It is reproduced here with attribution so you can read it in full; the rights remain with the publisher. Read it at the source ↗

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