CNBC Poll: 63% Oppose AI Data Center Within 10 Miles of Home

Sixty-three percent of registered voters say they oppose an AI data center within 10 miles of their home. Thirteen percent support one. That is the finding of a new CNBC All-America Economic Survey, which asked a split sample of registered voters whether they would welcome one of the facilities powering the current AI buildout near where they live.

The opposition is bipartisan but uneven. Eighty percent of Democrats oppose nearby facilities and only 4% support them. Among MAGA supporters, 29% would support a data center within 10 miles while 40% oppose one. Among all Republicans and Republican-leaning voters, support falls to 24%. The gap inside the GOP is the striking part: nearly 55% of MAGA supporters want companies to keep developing advanced AI while Congress works on regulations, versus 27% who favor a pause, yet only 29% want the infrastructure near them.

CNBC frames the number as a midterm pressure point. 'Republican voters broadly support continued AI development, but many oppose the data centers and power infrastructure needed to support it in their own communities,' the report says, adding that the backlash is 'reshaping midterm election politics, pushing Republicans who once championed data-center investment to emphasize utility costs, local impacts and tougher safeguards.' Our tracker has logged 451 AI infrastructure stories in the last 90 days, and this is one of the first to attach a hard national polling number to the siting fight.

Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies polled 1,000 registered voters nationwide October 14-18. The data-center question went to roughly half the sample, about 500 people, with a margin of error of 4.38 percentage points. The overall survey's margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 points.