Seventy percent of US adults under 30 oppose the construction of new data centers in their area, according to a University of Pennsylvania Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) survey that Fortune highlighted in a report published on 29 October 2026. Across all adults, opposition was 61%, up from 49% in February and March, while support fell from 21% to 14%.
By our arithmetic, opponents now outnumber supporters by about 4.4 to 1, up from about 2.3 to 1 four months earlier. Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft have given 2026 capital spending guidance that adds up to roughly $500 billion to $520 billion, also our arithmetic.
Short explainer · Data center backlash
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The key insight: APPC finds 61% of US adults now oppose new data centers in their area, up from 49% in the spring, and 70% of adults under 30; by our arithmetic opponents outnumber supporters about 4.4 to 1, up from about 2.3 to 1.
APPC says its survey was conducted among “a nationally representative sample of 1,320 U.S. adult citizens from June 16-July 19, 2026”. SSRS ran the fieldwork, primarily online with a small phone sample, and APPC gives a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for the full sample, larger for subgroups.
Of the 61% opposed, 44% were strongly opposed and 16% somewhat opposed; 25% said they neither support nor oppose. APPC says the 12-point increase “is statistically significant and is the largest shift on any AI question measured in these surveys”.
Opposition is highest among adults under 30, at 70%, and declines to 57% among those 65 and older. APPC calls this “a reversal of the usual pattern in which younger Americans are more receptive to new technology”. Majorities of Democrats (69%), Republicans (54%) and independents (53%) are opposed.
Using AI does not change the answer, APPC reports: opposition was 64% among nonusers, 60% among light users and 60% among heavy users. “That’s a dramatic move over a relatively short period of time”, said APPC research analyst Shawn Patterson Jr.
Share of US adults opposing and supporting the construction of new data centers in their area: opposition rose from 49% (February-March 2026) to 61% (16 June-19 July 2026) and support fell from 21% to 14%; opponents per supporter rose from about 2.3 to about 4.4 (our arithmetic). Source: Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania.
What Fortune Reported
Fortune’s Sasha Tuddenham profiled Elijah Lee, 18, who lives in Virginia and is high school chapters coordinator for Voters of Tomorrow, a Gen Z–led political advocacy group. “Young people cannot afford to live this way”, Lee told Fortune. “Building a future where we can actually live means backing down on data centers”.
Fortune reports that in Pennsylvania, 83% of likely voters ages 18 to 29 opposed data center development, according to a poll reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer. It also reports that Spartanburg County Council in South Carolina passed a one-year moratorium 5-1 in September.
Fortune adds a limit: in a recent Targoz poll, young voters ranked the cost of living and health care as their top issues, and electricity bills and data centers accounted for just 6% combined.
The Capex That Has to Be Sited
Alphabet’s chief financial officer Anat Ashkenazi said on the 28 October earnings call that its 2026 capital expenditure guidance of $195 billion to $205 billion was unchanged. Meta’s quarterly filing says: “We anticipate making capital expenditures of approximately $135 billion to $145 billion in 2026 to support our AI efforts and core business”.
Microsoft’s chief financial officer Amy Hood said on its 28 October call: “Therefore, for the calendar year, spend should be approximately $170 billion due to the 3P capacity delays noted earlier”. Adding the three gives roughly $500 billion to $520 billion of 2026 capex, by our arithmetic; not all of it is data center buildings.
Anthropic’s S-1 lists the same pressure as a risk factor: “Certain state, local, and municipal jurisdictions in the United States are also considering or have approved moratoriums on new data center construction, citing public health, safety, and environmental concerns”.
How the Lever Works
As we read the APPC numbers, the shift was specific to nearby sites: opposition to nearby data centers rose 12 points while views of AI overall held steady, with 39% expecting a negative impact on the country against 42% in the spring. Opposition was the same among heavy users as among light users, so in this survey using AI does not translate into support for buildings nearby.
Fortune lists state actions: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed what Fortune calls the nation’s first statewide data center moratorium in July; Texas Gov. Greg Abbott paused environmental permits and grid connections for new data centers; and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order in August blocking new projects unless they meet stricter limits on electricity and water use.
As we read APPC’s release, the movement was specific: opposition to a nearby data center rose 12 points while the share expecting AI to hurt the country was statistically unchanged, 39% against 42% in the spring.
As we read the age split, opposition runs from 70% among adults under 30 to 57% among those 65 and older, and APPC reports it was 60% among heavy AI users, the same as among light users.
As we read the capex lines, Alphabet’s $195 billion to $205 billion, Meta’s $135 billion to $145 billion and Microsoft’s roughly $170 billion add up to about $500 billion to $520 billion for 2026, by our arithmetic.
Annenberg Public Policy Center, summer 2026 survey release
“The movement over these four months was concentrated in one place: what Americans think about the physical infrastructure of a data center being built near their home.”
Three Implications
FOR HYPERSCALERS Anthropic’s S-1 already lists state, local and municipal moratoriums as a risk; APPC’s survey shows majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents opposed to new local sites.
FOR LOCAL OFFICIALS Fortune reports Spartanburg County Council passed a one-year moratorium 5-1 in September, and that governors in New York, Texas and Pennsylvania have paused or tightened approvals.
FOR ORGANISERS Fortune reports young voters ranked the cost of living and health care first in a Targoz poll, with electricity bills and data centers at 6% combined.
The framework says: “The structural bottleneck isn’t computing, it’s electrons.”
APPC’s survey measures opposition to new data centers in respondents’ own areas. The framework does not discuss this survey.
What Is Not Established
The survey covers US adult citizens; APPC says the margin of error is larger for subgroups, and the under-30 group is a subgroup. We could not open APPC’s topline file, so the under-30 sample size is not given here.
The 83% Pennsylvania figure comes from a poll reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer, as cited by Fortune; we did not read that poll. The capex total mixes three companies’ guidance and includes spending on servers and other equipment as well as buildings. The 4.4-to-1 ratio and the capex sum are our arithmetic.
This Week In The AI Supercycle
Execution Fault Lines, Concentrated Demand, and Geopolitical Firewalls
This week’s issue: the AI build is not short of demand for its parts. It is short of cheap money, and its end revenue rests on a narrow base of large, often venture-funded buyers.
APPC finds 61% of US adults oppose new data centers in their area, up from 49% in the spring, with 70% opposed among adults under 30. By our arithmetic, opponents now outnumber supporters about 4.4 to 1, as Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft guide to roughly $500 billion to $520 billion of 2026 capex.
A note on sourcing. Survey figures come from the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s release on its summer 2026 survey; we could not open its topline file. Elijah Lee’s comments, the Pennsylvania poll, Spartanburg, the Targoz poll and the state actions are as reported by Fortune on 29 October 2026. Capex figures come from Meta’s 10-Q and the Alphabet and Microsoft 28 October calls. Ratios and totals are our arithmetic; linked earlier pieces carry their own sources.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
