New polling shows that most Americans hate the prospect of data centers being built in their communities. The opposition is entirely predictable, not least because data centers seem to offer little benefit to people living near them.

After the Gallup poll was released, one prominent Twitter economist lamented that “people are mad about data centers, they’re mad about warehouses. Boy if neoliberalism hadn’t killed all the factories people would be mad about them too.”

But that smug comment ignores the additional political problem for data center advocates.

Put simply: their plans don’t seem to offer any explicit benefit to people living near them.

  • SlippiHUD@slrpnk.net
    4·
    6 days ago

    I dont want AI data centers anywhere, not just the ones near me. They’re ecological and economical disasters with no upside to anyone who doesnt own them.