I’m not convinced the “A.I. backlash” is real

Data center skeptics are worried about local impacts, not A.I.

Over the past few months, I’ve encountered many conversations, both online and offline, about the massive political backlash against artificial intelligence that is coming.

The tenor of the discourse is well-captured by Politico reporter Calder McHugh’s late-December article “Americans Hate A.I. Which Party Will Benefit?” but the conventional wisdom is widespread. Liza Featherstone in the New Republic wrote recently that “Data Centers Are the Enemy We’ve All Been Waiting for,” a take that was loudly echoed by Jeff Hauser, who runs a fake anti-corruption organization called the Revolving Door Project.

Interestingly, tech insiders themselves seem to largely agree with this. Multiple A.I. executives have told me in private conversations that they expect anti-A.I. populism to be a major issue in the 2028 election. Y Combinator’s Garry Tan wrote a post complaining about data center NIMBYs, warning that unless the industry dramatically alters the public narrative, people will soon be bombing data centers and imprisoning tech executives.

I’m pretty skeptical.