Conservatives and Liberals Are Joining Forces to Block AI Data Centers

Key points

• A Gallup poll found that seven in ten Americans oppose data center construction in their local area.
• Nearly two-thirds of Republicans and 75 percent of Democrats surveyed objected to local data center construction.
• Humans First, a conservative-leaning campaign group, organised roughly 150 simultaneous protests across the United States.
• Florida Republican gubernatorial front-runner Byron Donalds has received more than $5 million from a pro-AI super PAC, drawing backlash from voters in his own party.
• More than 20 Florida counties and municipalities have discussed or passed temporary bans on data center construction.

On a humid Saturday morning outside a branch library in Spring Hill, Florida, a small group of residents set up folding tables, printed flyers, and prepared for a fight. The immediate target: a planned hyperscale data center, a warehouse-scale facility that can draw as much electricity as a small city.

The Hernando County commission had already voted unanimously in June to pause such projects for a year. But Carol, a 71-year-old retired country music radio host who attended the rally, was not satisfied. "We are going to fight, fight, fight," she told me. A one-year moratorium was not enough. She wanted a permanent ban.

Why do residents oppose data centers?

The concerns are concrete, local, and shared across the political divide. Noise is the most immediate grievance: data centers run banks of industrial cooling fans around the clock. Carol described the sound as a constant, high-pitched roar. She also raised environmental worries, including water use and harm to pollinators. Beyond the physical, some residents are troubled by what AI itself is doing to people. Carol described a woman she knows who stopped seeing friends because a chatbot, ChatGPT, told her to.

The Spring Hill event was one of roughly 150 protests organised under the banner of Humans First, which describes itself as a conservative movement dedicated to keeping AI's future in the hands of ordinary people. Its leader is Amy Kremer, a veteran conservative organiser who co-founded Women for America First, the group that hosted the Washington rally on January 6th, 2021. Kremer was not among those who entered the Capitol that day.

Despite those partisan roots, the mood at the Hernando County rally was decidedly practical. An IT worker read from an article published by a progressive outlet. A land use expert explained how to rewrite local zoning codes to keep hyperscale facilities out of residential areas.

What does this mean for Florida politics?

The backlash is already reshaping a Republican primary. Byron Donalds, the front-runner for Florida governor and a vocal supporter of bringing data centers to the state, has taken more than $5 million from Leading the Future, a $100 million pro-AI super PAC backed by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.

Patti Zirhut, who organised the Spring Hill rally, voted for the politicians Donalds supports. She is firmly conservative. But she said she would vote for the Democrat if Donalds wins the primary.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, first reported on by The Verge AI, has signed a law requiring data centers to cover their own utility costs, but his administration has also handed developers millions in tax breaks. For voters like Zirhut, that feels like a betrayal.

What should residents watch for?

If a hyperscale data center is proposed near you, local zoning meetings are where the real decisions get made. Attending those meetings and submitting written comments to county commissioners is the most direct way to influence the outcome. Checking whether your county has considered or passed a moratorium is a useful first step. A temporary pause buys time; a change to the zoning code is what makes a ban stick.