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NYT/Siena poll: 61% of US voters oppose AI data centers

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NYT/Siena poll: 61% of US voters oppose AI data centers

A poll of 1,503 likely voters, conducted in early September by The New York Times and Siena University, found that 61 percent oppose the construction of data centers built to power AI technology, while only 14 percent said they strongly support it, The Verge reports. The piece frames the result as confirming a trend that politicians are already responding to.

Opposition splits sharply by 2024 presidential vote. Voters who backed Donald Trump were almost evenly divided, 49 percent supporting data center construction against 45 percent opposing. Voters who backed Kamala Harris leaned oppose at 74 percent, and people who did not vote in 2024 leaned oppose at 67 percent.

Among the voters who oppose data centers, 56 percent said they would support limits on construction rather than a full ban, while 38 percent wanted an outright ban. Asked why they oppose data centers, this same group of opposed voters cited environmental impact and water usage most often, at 32 percent, followed by effects on local communities (21 percent), general distrust or dislike of AI (18 percent), regulatory concerns (10 percent) and the economy (9 percent).

The Verge cites two earlier polls as corroboration: an NBC News survey in March found AI polling less favorably than ICE, and a Gallup poll in May found that seven in ten Americans opposed local construction of AI data centers.

Despite the opposition, the same NYT/Siena data ranked AI and data centers low on the list of issues voters considered most important for their midterm vote: fewer than one percent named it as a top issue across most demographic groups. The exception was voters aged 18 to 29, three percent of whom picked AI and data centers over more commonly cited issues such as the economy, foreign policy, inflation and opposition to Trump and Republicans.

On which party voters trusted to handle the issue, the poll's 554 respondents split close to evenly along party lines: 40 percent favored Democrats, 42 percent favored Republicans and 18 percent said they didn't know or declined to answer. That 554-person count is smaller than the 1,503-voter topline sample, and the piece does not explain the difference.

Key facts

  • A New York Times/Siena University poll of 1,503 likely voters, taken in early September, found 61 percent oppose construction of AI data centers and only 14 percent strongly support it.
  • Opposition splits by 2024 vote: Trump voters were nearly even (49 percent support, 45 percent oppose), while Harris voters (74 percent oppose) and people who didn't vote in 2024 (67 percent oppose) leaned much more against it.
  • Among voters who oppose data centers, 56 percent want limits rather than a full ban (38 percent), and the top reasons cited are environmental and water-use impact (32 percent) and effects on local communities (21 percent).
  • Two more polls point the same way: an NBC News survey in March found AI polling less favorably than ICE, and a Gallup poll in May found seven in ten Americans opposed local construction of AI data centers.
  • Despite the opposition, fewer than one percent of most voter groups named AI or data centers as their top issue for the midterm vote, versus three percent of voters aged 18 to 29.

Why it matters

The finding matters because it quantifies an AI backlash that The Verge says politicians are already responding to. A majority of voters, 61 percent, oppose the construction of AI data centers outright, and the two most-cited reasons, environmental and water-use impact (32 percent among opposed voters) and effects on local communities (21 percent), point to concrete objections rather than a generic dislike of AI. At the same time, the same data shows this unpopularity has not yet become a top-tier voting issue: fewer than one percent of most demographic groups named AI or data centers as the issue driving their midterm vote, which tempers how much electoral pressure the opposition is likely to generate in the near term.

Who it affects

US voters are the direct subject, though opposition splits unevenly along the 2024 presidential vote: those who backed Donald Trump were almost evenly divided (49 percent support, 45 percent oppose), while those who backed Kamala Harris (74 percent oppose) and people who did not vote in 2024 (67 percent oppose) lean much more against construction. The story also touches developers of AI data centers and the local communities near proposed sites, since impact on local communities is the second most-cited reason for opposition (21 percent among opposed voters), and it touches officials and candidates the piece says are already responding to this sentiment ahead of the midterms.

How to use it

Read the subgroup numbers at the right base. The 56 percent (limits) versus 38 percent (total ban) split, and the breakdown of reasons for opposition (32 percent environment and water use, 21 percent local community impact, 18 percent general distrust of AI, 10 percent regulation, 9 percent economy), all describe only the voters who already oppose data centers, not the full 1,503-person sample. Citing them as a share of all voters would overstate the numbers; the 61 percent topline opposition figure is the only one of these drawn from the full sample.

How solid is it

The topline figure comes from a poll of 1,503 likely voters conducted by The New York Times and Siena University in early September, but The Verge's writeup names no individual pollster or spokesperson and states no margin of error. It cites two outside polls as corroboration, NBC News in March and Gallup in May, but reports only a single headline figure from each ('AI polling lower than ICE'; 'seven in ten Americans') without their sample sizes or exact numbers. One number in the piece goes unexplained: the party-trust breakdown (40 percent Democrats, 42 percent Republicans, 18 percent undecided) is based on 554 respondents, a smaller count than the 1,503-voter topline sample, and the article does not say why or how those 554 were selected. It also references a 'recent AI safety slowdown discussion' as context for the survey's timing without saying what that discussion refers to.

Risks and caveats

The source gives no margin of error for the NYT/Siena poll. Among voters who oppose data centers, the 56 percent (limits) and 38 percent (total ban) figures add up to 94 percent, and the piece does not say what the remaining 6 percent said. The Gallup figure, 'seven in ten Americans' opposing local construction, answers a related but distinct question, opposition to a data center specifically nearby rather than construction in general, so it should not be read as the same measurement as the NYT/Siena topline. And although the opposition splits sharply by 2024 vote and by age, the same data shows AI and data centers are a low priority at the ballot box for now, which limits how much of this sentiment is likely to translate into votes cast specifically on the issue.