It’s probably not your ideological thing, or mine. It’s about object-level claims about how data centers impact the communities where they’re built, many of which are wrong.
I think the data center backlash is mostly about data centers
It’s probably not your ideological thing, or mine. It’s about object-level claims about how data centers impact the communities where they’re built, many of which are wrong.
The American People Really Hate Data Centers
There are at least five different core questions around data centers and their politics.
US views of how data centers affect the environment, energy costs, jobs and more
A broad majority of Americans have heard about data centers – the often-sprawling computing facilities that are popping up nationwide. But the public has mixed opinions about data centers’ impact…
Is the Left Making a ‘Massive Strategic Blunder’ on Data Centers?
A conversation with Holly Jean Buck, author of a buzzy story about Bernie Sanders’ proposal for a national data center moratorium.
With the backlash to data centers, Flock and AI glasses, a mass opposition to big tech is underway. Silicon Valley is in denial.
The backlash against data centers is difficult to understand if your salary depends on your not understanding it.
‘The Most Bipartisan Issue Since Beer’: Opposition to Data Centers
Americans have soured on data centers, polls show, and the sentiment is profoundly bipartisan. How will that change our politics?
Reframing the narrative: How the data center industry can unite to improve its public image
By uniting around shared values of transparency, innovation, and responsibility, the data center industry can shift the conversation from criticism to collaboration
Thinking about other industries like we think about data centers shows how impoverished the debate is
Clumsy, arbitrary environmental ideas ignore the incredible complexity of the systems modern society depends on
Data centers are facing an image problem. The tech industry is spending millions to rebrand them.
Through television ads and online campaigns, industry-backed groups are promising jobs, clean energy, and lower electricity bills.
People Hate Datacenters, Survey Finds
The data drops as Sen. Bernie Sanders calls for a moratorium on datacenter construction. 'We need to take a deep breath. We need to make sure that AI and robotics work for all of us, not just a handful of billionaires.'
As tech companies race to build data centers, more communities are pushing back
Concerns about electricity bills and local impacts are fueling bipartisan opposition to the massive data centers that power the digital economy, from cloud services to AI chatbots. In Wisconsin, as in other states, the tussles are personal – and fraught.
Data Center Watch
Free weekly updates on the political risks facing American data center projects
Elon Musk's Memphis AI empire is the epicenter of the data center backlash
Data center-related policy proposals, protests and litigation are underway across the country citing Colossus and Memphis as a cautionary tale.
Data centers have a political problem — and Big Tech wants to fix it
A growth engine for the economy is becoming a political albatross. Can messaging change that?
Rural America is resisting the surge in data center construction
Many rural communities are viscerally opposed to AI infrastructure.
A simple trick to fix the data center debate
Remove the status quo bias by asking "would we spend this much in tax revenue to avoid the externalities of the data center?"
