The politics of AI data centers

Backlash to AI data centers has become a uniting issue in America, one of the few bringing together people of all political stripes. And it’s become one of the biggest issues in this election year.

Roughly seventy percent of Americans oppose data centers near where they live, and 500 communities have banned or passed moratoriums on new construction, both in red and blue states. They have concerns over the center’s power demands driving up electricity costs, water usage, noise and environmental pollution.  

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Texas Governor Greg Abbott once welcomed the big tech companies as economic boons to their states but both have now reversed their positions. Shapiro signed an executive order last month restricting development and requiring local approval.  

Some say these u-turns may be politically necessary, but could prove unwise in the long term. President Donald Trump has championed AI data centers, on Monday saying neighborhoods that oppose them will become “backward and poor,” and Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman tweeted his support of the president’s position, saying the U.S. can’t lose the AI competition to China.

So today we’re sorting fact from fiction in the data center debate and asking how it’s reshaping our politics and what it reveals about Americans’ fears about the tech industry and AI.

Guests: 

• Matthew Levendusky, professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania 
• Jael Holzman, senior reporter at Heatmap News
• Christopher Nicholas, longtime GOP political consultant and author of the “PA Political Digest” newsletter
• Patrick Murphy, former Democratic U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania and former Under Secretary of the U.S. Army