The American People Really Hate Data Centers

Substack · Watch/Read · (gathered 2026-08-29)

• The American public’s strong opposition to data centers stems primarily from a deep-seated distrust and dislike of AI, Big Tech companies, large capital, and the general act of building new infrastructure, rather than specific physical concerns or “botched messaging.”
• This opposition is so profound it now exceeds that for coal plants and mirrors the “Not In My Backyard” (YIMBY) problem seen with even beneficial projects like transmission lines, indicating a general aversion to new technological development.
• People’s fears about AI (job displacement, existential risk, cultural impact) are often “sensible” and “obvious” from their perspective, not merely “luxury beliefs” or “moral panics,” and they view data centers as the tangible embodiment of these anxieties.
• Locals often feel entitled to heavily tax or extract concessions from data center projects, operating under what Zvi terms the “Copenhagen Interpretation of Ethics,” where the builder is seen as blameworthy and expected to compensate, regardless of objective benefits.
• If this domestic opposition successfully forces data center construction overseas (e.g., to the UAE or KSA), it is “very bad” and could lead to significant, potentially existential, risks by shifting critical infrastructure to less desirable locations.