Fox News Poll: Cool your servers! Voters reject data centers
While U.S. tech companies race for AI dominance, the latest Fox News nationwide survey finds voters hitting the brakes on data centers, as more prefer taking time to address local...
By Fox News · Fox News
While U.S. tech companies race for AI dominance , the latest Fox News nationwide survey finds voters hitting the brakes on data centers, as more prefer taking time to address local concerns than rushing expansion to maintain a competitive global edge. By a 40-point margin, voters oppose building data centers in their area to support artificial intelligence (30% favor, 70% oppose). MAGA supporters (46% favor) and Republican men (45%) are the groups most likely to favor data centers, while White women with a college degree (84% oppose) and liberal voters (80%) are the most opposed. FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS WANT MAJOR CHANGE AMID ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL DISCONTENT Among those favoring data centers, 60% cite economic benefits , including jobs, economic growth, community investment, and tax revenue as the reason for their support. Another 21% point to technological benefits, saying the centers are useful, necessary, or important for future progress. Just 2% say staying ahead of competitors is the primary reason for their support. Those opposing data centers emphasize a different set of considerations. Half (50%) say environmental issues are their main concern, including energy and water use, pollution, noise, and overall environmental impact, while far fewer mention quality-of-life concerns (14%), economic effects (11%), or simply having a negative view of AI (11%). FOX NEWS POLL: SIGNIFICANT SUPPORT FOR BOTH VOTER ID LAWS AND MAIL-IN BALLOTS While data centers are broadly unpopular, views of artificial intelligence technology itself are somewhat less negative. Overall, 45% view AI favorably versus 54% unfavorably, underwater by 9 points. In April, it was -11 points. Positive views of AI are higher among MAGA Republicans (55% favorable), voters with graduate degrees (52%), conservatives (50%), and men (49%) than among Democrats (41%), those without a college degree (43%), liberals (37%), and women (40%). Nearly 8 in 10 voters prefer slower data center construction to addres…