US data center opposition nearly doubled in one year

A Heatmap News survey finds 75% of Americans now oppose having a data center built near them, up from an even split about a year ago. 61% describe themselves as "strongly opposed."

Why it matters: This tracks with concrete local pushback already seen this year, including a Virginia county curbing data center expansion and Greater Manchester resisting a Palantir health-data deal, suggesting hyperscalers' land and power grabs are becoming a political liability rather than a niche NIMBY issue. Rising opposition could slow the buildout pace AI compute demand currently assumes, compounding the same power and grid bottlenecks behind recent memory and chip price surges.