The AI Data Center Backlash is Now Impossible to Ignore

The wooden front door was filled with bullet holes.

There were twelve distinct entry points, all shot by a crazed opponent of data centers into the home of Indianapolis legislator Ron Gibson. The bullets landed just steps away from where Gibson’s 8-year-old son had built LEGOs a day before. On the front porch, the shooter left a handwritten note. “No Data Centers,” it said.

The shooting happened on Monday, and was mostly ignored in a week dominated by news of a ceasefire with Iran. But it was yet another data point — and definitely the most disturbing one — indicating a growing, serious unease with AI and its associated physical infrastructure.

Today’s AI builders are in a bind: They need to massively increase the quantity of data centers to improve their models, but as their models get better, the public’s support for their buildouts is eroding.

As data centers show up in local communities, far more Americans say their impact is more negative than positive for quality of life, the environment, and home energy costs, according to Pew Research. Only 6% of those polled said AI infrastructure has a positive effect on the lives of people nearby. The faceless, imposing buildings have become symbols of the tech industry’s interest in delivering AI quickly despite the uncertainty it will bring to people’s lives.

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Already, some legislators are introducing bills to stop data center construction, and some are close to going through. Maine, for instance, is en route to become the first state to pass a data center construction moratorium through November 2027. And though unlikely to pass, Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are testing the appetite for further restrictions on a national level with a bill to pause data center expansion in the U.S.

Ilya Sutskever, the OpenAI co-founder and current CEO of Safe Superintelligence, once said that when the race toward AGI breaks out, data centers could wallpaper the planet. “It’s pretty likely,” he said, “the entire surface of the earth will be covered with solar panels and data centers.”

But the public has at least some say in how its resources will be used. And, though investment continues to pour in, achieving Sutskever’s vision will not be as simple as throwing dollars at the problem.

Any political opposition to the AI buildout would further complicate these ambitious infrastructure projects, which are already struggling to stay on schedule. Today, there’s concern that as many as half the scheduled data centers meant to come online this year could be delayed. Power and equipment constraints are playing a key role in the delays, but rising political opposition could loom large as the projects attempt to scale up.

Delivering AI is a famously resource-intensive process. And now, just as the AI models are showing their most promise yet, the public is turning against the foundational part of the stack (with a chance to impede their progress in a way they never could with software or social media). Ultimately, the technology will likely win out. But the road to further progress could be much bumpier than anticipated.

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