Artificial intelligence has become a national political issue and increasingly a local one. Communities across the country are fighting over the massive data centers needed to power the AI boom. Environmental groups warn about water consumption. Ratepayers worry about electricity bills.
The artificial intelligence boom is driving unprecedented demand for data centers, raising concerns about their growing energy consumption, water use and carbon footprint. These challenges are making companies look beyond traditional land-based data centers.
Artificial intelligence and the data centers powering the technology have become a flashpoint ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Shira Ovide, a technology reporter for The Wall Street Journal, has more.
Republicans are growing increasingly concerned about the politics of artificial intelligence data centers, which have triggered heavy backlash that threatens to make a real impact on the midterm elections.
Data centers have become the face of AI backlash, with celebrities, politicians and protesters pushing to slow their growth. Why it matters: America's sharply rising public opposition to data centers — which fuel our everyday use of the internet — could pose an existential threat to AI's growth.
Concerns about environmental impacts from data centers have dovetailed with a broader backlash to AI. Dozens of jurisdictions have adopted or debated moratoriums, hoping for more time to adopt robust regulations — or for the AI bubble to burst.
A new populist fever is coursing through the midterms, forcing campaigns to retreat and recalibrate as they confront a groundswell of hostility toward AI data centers. Why it matters: Grassroots pressure is breaking the bipartisan consensus that enabled America's AI buildout.
President Donald Trump is making the case that America’s rapidly expanding artificial intelligence and data center industry could become one of the nation’s most powerful engines for economic growth, job creation and technological innovation.
Artificial intelligence is poised to be the cornerstone of the next economic era. Its impact will be greater than the industrial and digital revolutions combined. The AI impact will drive productivity, expand individual opportunity, and cement America’s national security dominance.
“If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in, an AI plant, or a data center, I would absolutely want it,” said the billionaire president.
President Donald Trump said earlier this week that any governor or local government official should want to welcome the construction of AI data centers. "The construction jobs are enormous. We're building the biggest plants anywhere in the world.
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