Most Americans do not want an AI data center built next door, and the level of resistance is high enough to make nuclear power look comparatively friendly. In a Gallup survey, 71% of respondents said they oppose data centers for artificial intelligence near their homes, while only 7% fully support them. The result is a blunt reminder that AI data centers may be popular in investor decks, but less so when they move into a neighborhood.
The backlash is easy to understand. Data centers need huge amounts of electricity and water to keep servers cool, and those costs can show up in local utility bills. Add worries about traffic, noise, pollution, and large land use, and the pitch gets even harder. Some respondents also said they simply do not trust AI itself, which is a useful problem for the industry to fix before it starts asking for more land.
The irony is sharp: Americans are more comfortable with a nuclear plant nearby than with an AI data center. In the same Gallup survey, 53% said they oppose a nuclear plant near their home, which is still lower than the hostility toward AI facilities. Gallup has asked about nuclear plants since 2001, and the highest opposition level it has seen is 63%, so AI infrastructure is already starting from a worse place than an industry with decades of public skepticism.
What Gallup found
- 71% oppose AI data centers near their homes.
- 48% said they ”strongly oppose” them.
- About a quarter support them.
- Only 7% fully approve of nearby AI infrastructure.
Why the pushback is so strong
This is not just classic NIMBY reflex, although that is part of it. AI operators are now running into the same public-furor pattern that has greeted power lines, warehouses, and industrial plants for years: people like the service, just not the infrastructure behind it. The difference is that data centers are arriving at exactly the moment when utilities, regulators, and local communities are already fighting over power demand and water use.
The survey was conducted from March 2 to 18 and included 1,000 respondents. If the industry wants more facilities approved, it will need a better answer than ”the cloud” – because a cloud, at least, does not sound like it will raise your bill or hum all night.