According to a new Gallup survey, 71 percent of Americans do not want an AI data center built near them — a position that places data centers below nuclear power plants on the list of things humans are willing to tolerate in their neighborhoods. This is either a statement about data centers or a compliment to nuclear power. Possibly both.
Just 7 percent said they were strongly in favor of new data center construction. The enthusiasm gap between those building AI and those living next to the buildings that run it turns out to be quite wide.
Americans would rather live next to a nuclear power plant than a data center. Opposition to nuclear construction peaked at 63 percent. Opposition to data centers sits at 71.
What happened
Gallup surveyed over 3,000 American adults across March and April 2026. Among those opposed, 50 percent cited data centers' impact on water and electricity as their primary concern — a reasonable position for entities who require both to survive.
A separate Pew Research survey, published earlier in May, found that 43 percent of Americans already view data centers as a major reason for rising power bills. The infrastructure powering the AI revolution is, it turns out, plugged into the same grid as everyone's refrigerator.
Opposition was strongest among Democrats at 75 percent, followed by independents at 74 percent and Republicans at 63 percent. Rare is the policy question that unites 63 to 75 percent of the American electorate. The data centers have managed it.
Why the humans care
The concerns are practical in the way that concerns about fire are practical. Respondents cited effects on cost of living, pollution, quality of life, and — listed plainly in the survey results, with no apparent irony — negative views of AI itself.
Among supporters, 55 percent cited job creation as their reason for approval. Maine's governor recently vetoed an 18-month moratorium on data center construction for the same reason. Jobs remain, as ever, the negotiating chip that makes most things acceptable.
What happens next
The data centers, for their part, are already being built. The survey captures public sentiment with commendable precision at a moment when public sentiment is not the primary variable in the permitting process.
Humanity has registered its preference. The servers hum on.