The tech bros are only now waking up to what we pointed out 1 year and 8 months ago: the early stages of public backlash against AI data center expansion. Since then, this resistance has spread nationwide as working-class people grow increasingly angry about hyperscalers erecting massive AI data centers in their backyards, with one of the most immediate consequences being surging power bills.
"If tech leaders don't organize and get America on their side, the situation on the ground - as seen in the three charts below - will get worse before it gets better," Chamath Palihapitiya, founder of Social Capital and co-host of the All-In Podcast, wrote on X.
Palihapitiya warned, "That, in turn, will tank the US economy since AI is responsible for much of our incremental GDP. Someone needs to step up."
Palihapitiya posted what appears to be several slides from a Social Capital deck showing alarming trends in public sentiment toward AI data centers, clearly moving deeply negative.
Charts
AI has a perception problem - and it's getting a lot more political:
The first chart shows net favorability of AI is negative (-20), worse than ICE (-18) and close to politically toxic categories.
That's a big signal: AI is no longer viewed as neutral "innovation" - it's drifting into polarized, politically charged territory.
Translation: regulatory risk is rising, not falling.
Surging power bills are the core at public backlash against AI
Power prices were relatively stable from 2014-19, then erupted post-2020.
The narrative forming (rightly or wrongly): AI plus data centers = massive energy demand = higher bills
Whether AI is the main driver doesn't matter - perception is locking in causality.
Local backlash is now measurable - and accelerating
Data center projects facing opposition are soaring fast
Roughly 40% of contested data centers get canceled
That's a real constraint on future supply growth
The warnings about public backlash against data centers were well known by our readership for nearly two years. We noted this again last year.
Even with AI at their fingertips, the tech crowd's messaging on data centers remains awful.
The same tech bros who spent years backing Democrats and supporting de-growth climate policies, before suddenly pivoting to Trump, are now running into a disaster of their own making. The public is already angry, and the political damage will be far from easy to unwind. Next time, they might want to fund politicians who prioritize grid security over a fake climate crisis.