No AI data centers, no AI revolution.
Or to be less dramatic, slowing the buildout of these sprawling server farms will slow technical advances and the economywide spread of generative artificial intelligence, which is shaping up to be a powerful new general-purpose technology. As such, a new survey from Politico suggests Silicon Valley shouldn’t take voter tolerance for granted.
Let’s start with the good news for AI companies: Just 28 percent of 2,000 surveyed would oppose the building of a new data center in their area. That, versus 37 percent who would support construction and 28 percent who would neither support nor oppose.