A Brookings analysis by Tom Wheeler describes how local opposition to AI data centers has become a proxy battle for broader public anxiety about artificial intelligence’s effects on jobs and society. It reports that community resistance blocked or delayed 75 data center projects worth a combined $130 billion in just the first quarter of 2026, matching the total blocked across all of 2025. The piece notes that the fight has become political, with industry-backed super PACs funding pro-AI candidates while lawmakers from both parties warn that a small number of companies now hold unprecedented concentrations of capital and political power.
