Americans oppose data centers by wide margins, and most now say AI is bad for society. A new ABC News, Washington Post and Ipsos poll released Wednesday found 57% of adults call AI bad for society, while 42% call it good. The results land as data centers become a midterm election issue and the administration keeps pushing to build more of them.
What the ABC News and Washington Post poll found
Fieldwork ran October 9 to 13 among 2,545 U.S. adults on Ipsos KnowledgePanel, according to ABC11's writeup of the results. The overall margin of error is plus or minus 2 points, and it is plus or minus 2.8 points on questions asked of half the sample. The headline finding appears in ABC News's report: most Americans see AI as bad for the country, and few feel strongly in its favor.
Intensity is the number to watch. Only 2% of respondents call AI "extremely" good for society, while 17% call it "extremely" bad. That lopsided tail suggests the skepticism runs deeper than a mild preference.
Asked about their own lives, respondents split almost evenly. Half, 50%, say AI is good for them personally, and 49% say it is bad. Americans are far more negative about AI's effect on the country than on themselves. That gap is the most useful detail in the release for anyone building or selling AI products, because it suggests people can use a tool at work and still want it restrained.
Which groups are most skeptical of AI
Age is the sharpest divide. 65% of adults under 30 say AI is bad for society, compared with 53% of adults 40 and older. Younger adults will also live longest with whatever the buildout produces, which makes their view a long-term signal for the industry.
Party splits are just as clear. Democrats (63%) and independents (58%) say AI is bad for society. Republicans are divided, with 51% calling it good and 47% calling it bad. Republicans are the only major group in the poll where a majority calls AI good, and the margin is narrow. That matters for an administration that has made AI and data centers a priority, because its own base is not uniformly enthusiastic.
Where Americans stand on a data center in their own town
Opposition to data centers is broad. 66% oppose building new ones nationally, and 72% oppose one in their own community, according to ABC11's writeup. The local number matters most to developers, because projects are won or lost in specific counties and towns, not in national polls.
Local resistance is not new. Wikipedia's entry on opposition to AI data centers counts 142 protests across 42 states in July 2026. It also cites a June 2025 poll in which only 14% said they would back a data center in their community. Those figures come from different surveys, so a direct comparison should be read with care. Taken together, they suggest a movement that has been building since at least mid-2025.
Local opposition can stall projects. Residents near proposed sites typically fight over zoning, power and water, and those fights can delay or stop approvals. For a developer, a 72% local opposition figure is a warning that a project's neighbors may be harder to win over than its investors.
Where Trump stands on AI in the poll
Most Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling AI, according to the Washington Post's report. Yahoo put the disapproval figure at 67% and reported that most Americans expect AI to eliminate many jobs. That 67% figure came from one outlet, so it should be checked against the Post's published toplines before anyone repeats it.
Trump has argued that data centers should pay "dividends" to the public, a position Al Jazeera described as a pre-midterm shift. He has also argued that data centers bring community wealth and help the United States compete with China, according to Fox News. USA 24 has covered those remarks separately.
For a president who has made data centers central to his economic message, majority disapproval on the issue is a notable signal. The poll does not measure which of his arguments, if any, moved voters. It shows that the public is not sold on the overall pitch.
Jobs and AI hacking top the list of worries
Two risks stand out. 73% rate AI hacking of secure computer systems as a high risk, and 65% rate widespread job elimination as high, according to Delta Daily News's writeup. Both are easy to explain to voters, which makes them likely to show up in campaign messaging.
Workers, especially younger adults, are the group most worried about job losses. The hacking concern gives lawmakers a security argument for regulation that does not depend on how someone feels about innovation in general.
What to do if a data center is proposed near you
Readers who want to weigh in do not need to wait for a federal bill. Local decisions come first, and they move on public calendars.
- Check your county or city planning board agenda for rezoning, site plan or utility-connection items that mention a data center.
- Read the staff report before the hearing. It usually sets out the proposed power demand, water use and noise limits.
- Submit written comments by the deadline, and speak during public comment if the meeting allows it.
- Ask specific questions: who pays for new transmission lines, how much water the cooling systems will use, and what the company commits to in writing.
- Contact your state utility regulator if the project would affect your electricity rates.
For AI use at work, the general guidance is to treat outputs as unverified until you check them, and to keep sensitive personal or client data out of tools your employer has not approved.
Why the poll lands during a federal AI push
The White House has favored a light-touch approach. In September it signed a voluntary accord with six AI companies covering safety policies, audits and third-party evaluations. ABC News reported that the administration also created a task force it calls the Super Intelligence Force. Critics argue voluntary frameworks are not binding, and the accord itself does not call for immediate legislation, according to a Crowell & Moring client alert.
Lawmakers have considered acting, but reporting so far has not named a specific bill that could move before the midterms. That leaves the opinion gap with few near-term federal levers, which puts more weight on states and counties.
The buildout is not slowing down. Nvidia's DSX POD promises factory-built AI data centers in 14 days. A model like that could shorten construction timelines, which would compress the window for local review.
What to watch next
Watch three things. First, whether the full ABC News and Washington Post releases confirm the local opposition and party breakdowns, and whether the Post's toplines match the 67% disapproval figure. Second, whether candidates in both parties take clearer positions on data center siting, power bills and water use. Third, whether the administration responds with anything more binding than the September accord.
Investors are already jittery about AI spending, as USA 24's coverage of the AI stock selloff shows. If public resistance to local projects hardens, that nervousness could spread from share prices to construction schedules. The next few weeks will show whether these numbers hold as the campaign heats up.
