{"id":18165,"date":"2026-05-18T04:59:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T11:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=18165"},"modified":"2026-05-19T05:14:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T12:14:38","slug":"the-american-rebellion-against-ai-is-gaining-steam-the-wall-street-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=18165","title":{"rendered":"“The American Rebellion Against AI Is Gaining Steam”, The Wall Street Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Back to News<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Booed commencement speakers, blocked data centers, plummeting poll numbers: Fast-growing industry has a faster-growing crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    By\u00a0Amrith Ramkumar<\/a>, Katherine Blunt<\/a> and\u00a0Lindsay Ellis<\/a> May 18, 2026, The Wall Street Journal<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Checkbox\"\/<\/a>
    Former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt shared his thoughts on technology and artificial intelligence during a commencement address at the University of Arizona. Photo: The University of Arizona<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The only thing growing faster than the artificial-intelligence industry may be Americans\u2019 negative feelings about it\u2014as former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt saw on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Delivering a commencement address at the University of Arizona, Schmidt told students the \u201ctechnological transformation\u201d wrought by artificial intelligence will be \u201clarger, faster and more consequential than what came before.\u201d Like some other graduation speakers mentioning AI, Schmidt was met with a chorus of boos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In one poll after another in recent weeks, respondents have overwhelmingly voiced concerns about AI<\/a>, a challenge to claims by industry executives that their technology would gain popularity by improving people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Consumers resent energy-price jumps<\/a> exacerbated by the spread of data centers. Workers fear widespread job losses. Parents worry about AI undermining education and harming children\u2019s mental health<\/a>. In recent months, the wave of anger has brought protests, swayed election results and spurred isolated acts of violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Protesters<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Attendees at a rally in Detroit in December opposed a utility’s plan to provide power for a data center in rural Michigan. JIM WEST\/ZUMA PRESS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In April, a 20-year-old Texas man allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail<\/a> at OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman\u2019s home and made threats at the company\u2019s San Francisco headquarters, according to a federal complaint filed against him. A few days earlier, someone fired 13 shots at the front door of an Indianapolis councilman who had recently approved a data center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s something I never thought would be imaginable,\u201d said Councilman Ron Gibson, who found a note saying \u201cNO DATA CENTERS\u201d under his doormat. Two days later, Gibson found a similar note saying \u201cf\u2014 you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Pollsters and historians say the souring of public opinion is all but unprecedented in its speed. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever seen something intensify this quickly,\u201d Gregory Ferenstein, who conducted a recent poll with researchers at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, said of the backlash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The poll showed about 30% of Democrats think America should accelerate AI innovation as quickly as possible, compared with roughly half of Republicans and 77% of tech founders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Rising political issue<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Also unprecedented is the rapid rise of AI anxiety\u2019s salience as a political issue<\/a>, one that is shaking up routine re-election races and scrambling partisan battle lines, political analysts say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    After bubbling up in a handful of races last year, it has exploded onto the ballot across the country. Voters in Festus, Mo., ousted four city council members<\/a> a week after they approved a $6 billion data center. Dozens of communities in states from Maine to Arizona are trying to ban new data centers. Some 360,000 Americans are in Facebook groups opposed to the facilities, roughly quadruple the number from December, figures from organizations fighting the AI build-out show.How quickly Americans think AI is moving by\u200bage groupSource: Poll from The Economist and YouGovNote: Poll was conducted between May 9-11 and\u200bfeatured 1,549 U.S. adult citizensToo fastRight paceToo slowly18-2930-4445-6465+050100%<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cPeople just feel like they\u2019re under siege,\u201d said Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.), who has proposed bills to impose new requirements on data centers and AI companies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    AI has risen in importance most quickly among 39 political issues studied by polling firm Blue Rose Research in the past year, though it still trails priorities including the economy, immigration and foreign policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While AI rejectionism has put wind in the sails of some campaigns, for AI companies and builders of the data centers that serve them, it\u00a0is creating an acute crisis<\/a>. Investors have staked tens of billions of dollars in capital on the ability of OpenAI, Anthropic and other companies to get access to ever-larger quantities of computing power, and they in turn have pledged much of that capital to fund data-center construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars<\/a> in the midterm elections to help fight the backlash. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But all over the country, community-level organizations have been succeeding in blocking data-center projects<\/a>. Local opposition blocked or delayed at least 48 projects valued at some $156 billion last year, according to Data Center Watch, an organization tracking the trend. A record of 20 were canceled in the first quarter of the year because of local backlash, figures from climate-media outlet and data provider Heatmap show. Dozens more are currently facing similar obstacles on top of obstructions because of permitting snafus and equipment shortages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On Monday, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller called for a moratorium on new hyperscale data-center development in the state, citing concerns about the costs to farmers and strain on the power grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Persuading the \u2018cave people\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    As the poll numbers continue dropping, industry leaders and their allies wonder how much worse they can get and what it will take to turn them around. A string of high-profile layoff announcements in which executives have attributed steep job cuts to AI<\/a> have furthered Americans\u2019 mistrust of the technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Dylan Patel, CEO of AI-infrastructure consulting firm SemiAnalysis, recently predicted there would be large-scale protests against OpenAI and Anthropic within a few months. \u201cPeople hate AI. AI is less popular than [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. AI is less popular than politicians,\u201d he said on a podcast. How U.S. voters feel about each topicSource: March NBC News surveyNotes: ICE is Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Poll of 1,000 registered voters; categories of very and\u200bsomewhat positive and negative were added togetherPositiveNeutralNegativeDon’t knowAIDonald TrumpRepublican partyDemocratic partyICEIran050100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A review of documents aggregated by AI startup Halcyon shows that thousands of people have expressed concerns about data-center costs by filing sharply worded public comments in regulatory dockets as utilities across the country seek approval to power them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ndubisi Okoye, a Detroit-based advertising creative director and muralist, was one of them. He learned last year that his utility company had sought approval of a contract to power a data center that Oracle<\/a> ORCL -3.29%decrease; red down pointing triangle<\/a>plans to build near Ann Arbor, Mich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cWe do not want any data centers, especially in Michigan,\u201d he wrote in a public comment. \u201cDo not bring that here ever!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Okoye said in an interview that he opposes data centers for their impact on the environment, and he worries about the effect artificial intelligence might have on his opportunities as an artist<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In Memphis, Tenn., 31-year-old Justin Pearson is finding support by centering data-center opposition in his Democratic campaign for Congress. Pearson has helped lead the fight against Elon Musk\u2019s xAI over a local data center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The NAACP recently sued xAI<\/a>, which was acquired by Musk\u2019s SpaceX, claiming the company has illegally operated gas turbines without a valid air permit in nearby Southaven, Miss. Pearson said voters in the Republican area shared the same data-center concerns as many of his Democratic constituents. \u201cWe are building common ground in a powerful way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Tennessee<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Tennessee state representative Justin Pearson has criticized plans by Elon Musk’s xAI to use gas turbines to power data centers. BRANDON DILL\/THE WASHINGTON POST\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Big tech companies have promised to pay more for electricity<\/a> that powers data centers at the urging of President Trump, but executives said they need a coordinated effort to highlight the benefits of the tax revenue data centers provide and the ways AI can improve daily life. Trump recently said data centers \u201cneed some PR help.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Chris Lehane, OpenAI\u2019s chief global affairs officer, said \u201cdoomers\u201d peddling worst-case scenarios<\/a>, lingering anger at social-media companies and negative media coverage have fueled poor sentiment in the U.S. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to constantly and consistently talk about AI from a fear perspective, you are going to drive fear,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The company is focused on finding solutions to problems such as energy costs and children\u2019s safety, Lehane said. \u201cWe as an industry need to be a lot more calibrated in making the case as to why this is good for the country and good for the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At a recent data-center conference in Washington, one executive said the industry is facing \u201ccave people\u201d who oppose all development. Another said her daughter hears her friends complaining about data centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cThere\u2019s a disconnect between what we\u2019re saying and what is happening out there, and I think that\u2019s the issue we have to address,\u201d\u00a0Ernest Popescu, CEO of the company developing the data center in Indianapolis that Gibson had approved, told the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Amrith Ramkumar<\/a> is a reporter for The Wall Street Journal in Washington covering tech and crypto policy. He previously covered clean energy and was a Journal markets reporter in New York who wrote about special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, when SPAC mergers were a popular alternative to traditional initial public offerings. He also previously wrote about stocks and commodities, including battery metals such as lithium and cobalt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Amrith joined the Journal as a markets intern after graduating from Duke in 2017.Follow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/a><\/a><\/a>Katherine Blunt<\/a>\u00a0writes about Alphabet for The Wall Street Journal and is based in San Francisco. She previously covered power and utilities. Her coverage of PG&E was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting and earned a Gerald Loeb award. She also shared a Loeb award for a special project investigating child-safety issues on Meta platforms. She is the author of \u201cCalifornia Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric and What it Means for America\u2019s Power Grid<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prior to joining the Journal in 2018, Katherine was a business reporter at the Houston Chronicle. Before that, she covered transportation for the San Antonio Express-News.Follow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/a><\/a>Lindsay Ellis<\/a>\u00a0is a Washington, D.C.-based reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Before joining the Journal in 2022, she was a senior reporter for the Chronicle of Higher Education, covering college finance and governance, as well as higher education’s response to Covid-19. There, her coverage of public-university boards earned a finalist designation for the Dateline Award for Investigative Journalism for the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. She also has reported about higher education and business at the Houston Chronicle and the Albany Times-Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Lindsay began her career as an intern in the Atlanta bureau of the Journal, covering U.S. and corporate news.Follow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/a><\/a><\/a>Show Conversation (696)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Back to News Booed commencement speakers, blocked data centers, plummeting poll numbers: Fast-growing industry has a faster-growing crisis By\u00a0Amrith Ramkumar, Katherine Blunt and\u00a0Lindsay Ellis May 18, 2026, The Wall Street Journal Former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt shared his thoughts on technology and artificial intelligence during a commencement address at the University of Arizona.\u00a0Photo: The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18165"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18166,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18165\/revisions\/18166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}