Poll: 49% of Americans Support Moratorium on New Data Center Construction as AI Backlash Grows
Summary
- • New polling finds 49% of Americans support a temporary ban on new data center construction vs just 16% opposed
- • Only 8% of data center opponents live near one — backlash is ideological and symbolic, not locally driven
- • Data centers have become physical stand-ins for broader AI anxiety about costs, jobs, and who benefits
- • Bipartisan criticism from Steve Bannon and Bernie Sanders signals cross-partisan political risk for the tech industry
Details
49% support construction moratorium
vs 16% opposed, 27% neither — Milltown Partners poll of 6,872 registered voters May 10–20, ±3% margin of error
Local support vs. opposition split
38% would support a data center near their home; 34% would oppose — less opposition locally than the broad moratorium support suggests
Only 8% of opponents live near one
Milltown Partners found just 8% of data center opponents report having one near their home — backlash is ideological, not community-driven
Pew Research confirms the pattern
Pew April poll also found proximity to existing or planned data centers has little effect on Americans' views of the facilities
Rural vs. urban buildout shift
Two-thirds of planned data centers are in rural areas, though 87% of existing data centers are in urban locations
Bipartisan political threat emerging
Steve Bannon (right) and Bernie Sanders (left) have both attacked AI as a threat to working people — no partisan safe harbor for tech
Unemployment trigger risk
Stanford professor Andy Hall warns: a 2% unemployment rise attributed to AI would trigger a 'real populist backlash'
Robots filling data center labor gap
Genesis AI launched general-purpose robots for complex environments like data centers amid a 'severe labor shortage' at new facilities
Milltown Partners polling data on US public attitudes toward data centers and AI infrastructure, May 2026
What This Means
This polling is an early warning signal for the tech industry: public opposition to AI infrastructure is spreading faster and wider than the infrastructure itself, and it is mostly ideological rather than driven by direct community impact. The 49% support for a moratorium — compared to just 16% opposition — provides real political cover for legislators who want to slow AI buildouts, especially in a climate of economic anxiety. For companies planning major data center investments, the findings underscore the need for proactive community engagement, transparency about costs and water use, and clear narratives around job creation. The bipartisan nature of the backlash means there is no safe partisan harbor, and any economic disruption blamed on AI could rapidly accelerate the political risk.