CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten on Tuesday highlighted one political issue that appears to have united Republican and Democratic voters, calling it “electoral poison” ahead of the midterm elections in November.
“News Central” host John Berman opened the segment by discussing a New York Times report from Monday that noted President Donald Trump remains “bullish” about artificial intelligence and the construction of data centers — “despite national blowback against the facilities.”
“There is no debate when it comes to where people stand on AI and data centers,” Enten told Berman. “And simply put, it’s electoral poison at this point. You rarely see this type of agreement. ‘Oppose Building AI Data Centers In Your Area,’ it includes 70% — overall.”
The data guru was citing a Fox News survey conducted between July 17 and July 20 that polled 1,003 registered U.S. voters and showed 76% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans oppose building data centers in their area “to support artificial intelligence technology.” He noted that this latter percentage represents 3 in 5 Republican voters.
Meanwhile, 75% of rural voters and 63% of people living in urban areas also oppose building local data centers.
“You see across the board, [a] clear position, which is the vast majority of Americans and voters are against building AI data centers,” explained Enten. “And that’s why I said at the top, it’s, simply put, electoral poison at this point when it comes to the politics of it.”
He reiterated, “It is very clear people are against it.”
Trump has openly championed artificial intelligence and bashed states such as New York for thwarting the construction of data centers, arguing last month that Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) had made a “terrible decision” in announcing a temporary statewide ban.
Trump also announced a joint venture last year with the investment holding company SoftBank and tech companies OpenAI and Oracle of up to $500 billion for AI-related infrastructure, working to aggressively expand the industry despite his own MAGA base’s fears about AI’s impact on the job market.
While the president has claimed data centers provide “LIQUID GOLD” in taxes and job creation and said last week that the opportunity could be “bigger than oil,” the U.S. economy appears to have become reliant on AI-related investments to a potentially dire degree.
Trump’s own artificial intelligence czar David Sacks last year noted that The Wall Street Journal reported at the time that AI-related investments accounted for half of America’s GDP growth, warning on social media, “A reversal would risk recession. We can’t go backwards.”
Enten noted that 70% of Americans feel AI development is a “bad” thing, however, citing a recent Marquette University Law School poll. AI servers require vast amounts of water to avoid overheating, have driven up local energy costs and appear to be tainting the drinking water.
Enten concluded Tuesday by reiterating that “the electoral politics of this are very, very clear.”