Voters mostly don’t like AI and data centers, but neither party seems to have an edge
NYT/Siena poll of 1,503 likely voters finds 61% oppose AI data center construction, yet the issue ranks below 1% among midterm priorities.
A New York Times/Siena University poll of 1,503 likely voters conducted in early September found 61% oppose constructing data centers to power AI, with only 14% strongly supportive. Opposition drivers include environment/water usage (32%), local community impact (21%), and general distrust of AI (18%); 56% of opponents favor limits while 38% want a total ban. Trump 2024 voters split nearly evenly (49% support vs 45% oppose) while Harris voters opposed at 74%. Despite the sentiment, AI and data centers registered under 1% as a top midterm issue for most demographics, and neither party holds a clear trust advantage (42% Republicans vs 40% Democrats).
- 61% of 1,503 likely voters oppose AI data center construction
- Environment and water usage top opposition reasons at 32%
- Trump voters split evenly; Harris voters 74% opposed
- AI ranks below 1% among voters' most important midterm issues
- Party trust split: 42% Republicans, 40% Democrats, 18% unsure
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Richard Lawler
is a senior editor following news across tech, culture, policy, and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget.
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.
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- Richard Lawler
Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/995917/data-center-nyt-midterm-poll-september