Americans hate data centers. Tech needs them
Though the midterms have been dubbed “the AI election” and a resounding repudiation of tech, it’s hard to tell what all this practically means.
TL;DR
- A strong anti-tech sentiment, especially regarding data centers, was evident in the midterms.
- Over 70% of Americans oppose data center construction.
- Democrats ran anti-tech or anti-data center ads in numerous races.
- Companies like Anthropic face challenges securing necessary compute power and managing costs.
- Despite public sentiment, a California billionaire tax faced opposition from tech figures.
- Tech billionaires like Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, and Elon Musk made substantial political donations.
- Public sentiment against the AI boom appears to be a significant factor, overriding billionaire influence.