Trump Faces Political Fallout as US Backlash Against AI Data Centers Grows

Clear bullet holes are marked on the front door of a house.

A paper reading "No Data Center" is left in front of the door.

Someone fired shots, apparently harboring a grudge against a city council member who voted in favor of constructing an AI data center.

Conflicts surrounding data centers are intensifying across the United States.

In a recent poll, 6 out of 10 respondents said they oppose building a data center in their neighborhood.

This figure represents a 12 percentage point increase compared to three months ago.

The primary reason for opposition is rising electricity bills.

Supplying massive amounts of power to AI data centers requires new power plants or high-voltage transmission lines, and residents fear those costs will be passed on to electricity bills, burdening ordinary households.

[Will Scott / Director, Environmental Defense Fund: If you're going to build power plants for large-scale facilities (like data centers), that money should be paid by the wealthiest corporations in the world. Those costs should not end up on grandmothers' utility bills.]

The massive consumption of water required to cool data centers operating 24 hours a day, alongside lower-than-expected local job creation, is also fueling opposition.

[Maria Acosta / New Mexico Resident: We know that data centers are bad. They use an enormous amount of water. We live in a desert area, and our water quality is already very poor.]

Consequently, starting with New York state becoming the first at the state level to temporarily halt the construction of large-scale data centers, more than 100 local governments across the U.S. have moved to put the brakes on data center projects.

In the first quarter of this year alone, more than 70 data center construction projects in the U.S. were halted or faced disruptions, amounting to an estimated 180 trillion won.

While U.S. President Trump has emphasized their economic impact, stating that he will "prevent electricity rate hikes" and calling data centers "money-making machines," growing public criticism is making the issue a focal point ahead of the November U.S. midterm elections.

(Reported by Kim Hyun-woo | Produced by Choi Yoon-seo | Camera by Lee Hee-hoon | Video Edited by Wee Won-yang | Produced by SBS Digital News)

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