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What changedNew research adds a more human explanation to the growing backlash against AI data centres: many Pennsylvanians are not simply resisting development, but questioning who benefits, who pays and why decisions seem to be made behind closed doors.
Data & Society researchers interviewed 44 residents over 18 months between 2024 and 2026. Their ethnographic study, described by TechCrunch, found opposition spanning environmental concerns, fears over electricity bills and property values, hostility to AI companies, and unease about developers asking local officials to sign non-disclosure agreements.
The researchers also found support from trade unions, which see construction jobs as a possible route to rebuild membership even though the finished facilities are not expected to employ large numbers of people. Pennsylvania’s political response has shifted too: Governor Josh Shapiro moved from promoting major AI infrastructure investment in 2025 to signing an order that imposed new requirements on data-centre projects and removed them from a regulatory fast-track scheme.
That makes the earlier figure of $68bn in disrupted US data-centre projects look less like a collection of isolated local quarrels and more like a credibility problem for the industry.
Sources and evidence- Everyone can find a reason to dislike data center construction: Data & Society’s reported interviews suggest opposition to AI data centres is a diverse, trust-driven coalition concerned with bills, property values, environmental effects, secrecy and the terms of local development, while Pennsylvania’s policy has become more restrictive.
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