Nashville data center fight taps AI fears
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The public is still divided on data centers, but a new poll out this week found nearly half of U.S. voters support a temporary construction ban.
- The poll was conducted by Milltown Partners, a consulting firm that counsels leading AI labs and tech startups, and shared first with Axios.
Why it matters: The findings highlight how data centers have become a stand-in for broader anger and anxiety toward an AI future many Americans don't want.
Zoom in: The responses also bring context to fierce debates over two planned data centers in Nashville, where city leaders are pushing to temporarily pause new centers.
- There is intense, bipartisan opposition to a data center planned next to the Nashville Zoo — zoo officials said the noise and other disruptions from the center could harm the animals.
- Neighbors and alums are also questioning Fisk University's proposal to build an on-campus data center alongside academic space.
What they're saying: "Data centers are relatively new, and so there's a lot of unknowns about them, and the unknown is scary," Councilwoman Courtney Johnston, who opposes the data center next to the zoo and proposed a citywide moratorium, told the New York Times.
- "When you couple that with the proximity to our zoo that everyone loves, that is a perfect storm."
By the numbers: In the national poll, 38% of respondents said they would support a data center being built near their home, while 34% would oppose it.
- Meanwhile, 49% say they support a moratorium on construction of new data centers, while only 16% oppose a moratorium.
- Another 27% neither support nor oppose a moratorium and 8% say they don't know.
Between the lines: The split suggests many voters aren't categorically anti-data center, but they are wary of the pace and terms of the buildout.
- A temporary moratorium could be a way to force companies and policymakers to answer questions about costs, water use and who benefits.
Threat level: Both Steve Bannon on the right and Bernie Sanders on the left have attacked AI as a threat to working people.
- Warnings from tech leaders that AI will bring mass job loss are handing critics more ammunition.
The latest: The Metro Council is pursuing multiple paths to slow or stop data centers.
- Mayor Freddie O'Connell signed an executive order earlier this month directing city departments to study the impact of large data centers and to support council efforts to temporarily pause new centers.
The fine print: Milltown Partners surveyed 6,872 registered voters between May 10-20 recruited from online panels. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.