Billionaire Mark Cuban tried to give the AI industry some advice this week on how to win the public relations war over data centers.
“It’s time for everyone to realize that the fight against data centers has nothing to do with data centers,” Cuban posted Thursday on X. “They have become a proxy for the hate towards AI and the concentration and accumulation of wealth it’s creating.”
Cuban argued that tech companies should go on tours in towns and cities affected by AI-related job losses. He also said they should meet with creative unions in Los Angeles and New York City and ask artists what they can do to help.
Essentially, he chalked up the backlash against data centers to bad PR that could be smoothed over with a little ass-kissing, as he put it. That message did not go over well online.
“I used to admire you,” wrote one X user in response. “The stupidity of the first two sentences in this post is distressing. People hate AI data centers because residents are tortured by constant whining noise and light pollution. They are left w[ith] losses on the equity built over a lifetime in their homes.”
The user said jealousy of the rich had nothing to do with people’s hatred for data centers.
“Adorable. The ‘good’ billionaire says the problem isn’t the data centers; it’s the PR,” wrote another user. “He goes on to give advice about how to psyop the poors into putting up with it while they shove it down our throats anyway.”
The responses to Cuban’s post were just a small part of a brutal week for data centers. Around the country, pro-data center politicians lost elections, local governments moved to slow or ban new projects, and we even saw consumer tech prices rise due to AI-driven chip shortages.
The bad week comes as major tech companies are racing—and spending billions—on massive new data center projects to train and run advanced AI models. Those projects have been fully embraced by President Donald Trump’s administration, which has taken a largely hands-off approach to overseeing the AI industry (though there are early signs that’s changing). The White House has argued that advancing AI is key to U.S. national security and economic competitiveness. Essentially, the administration’s position is that the U.S. needs to go full throttle on AI to avoid falling behind China.
But the effects of the data center buildout are starting to show up in Americans’ everyday lives
As the AI data center boom helped fuel a memory chip shortage, Apple this week hiked prices on several of its products. Microsoft soon followed with its own Xbox price hikes.
These price bumps will undoubtedly drive more ire against already unpopular data center projects. A Gallup survey conducted in March found that seven in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their local area, including 48% who are strongly opposed. About 46% said they worried a great deal about the environmental impacts of AI data centers.
Now, the opposition is starting to show up at the ballot box. This week, Utah State Senate President J. Stuart Adams lost his primary after supporting a controversial data center project in the state backed by Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary.
Box Elder County Commissioner Lee Perry, who also backed the project, lost his primary, too.
“Do I think that the data center vote cost me the election? Yes, I do,” Perry said, according to Newsweek.
Local governments are also pushing back. In New Jersey, four communities this month have either approved bans or pauses on data center projects or are considering them. Meanwhile, the Minneapolis City Council this week approved a six-month pause on large data center projects while the city studies their impact.
And it’s not just happening in the U.S. AP reports that 40 mayors around the world signed a pact this week aimed at shaping how urban data centers are built and operated. The pact calls for data centers to reduce their strain on power and water systems, limit noise and pollution, and use cleaner energy.
Wall Street is also getting nervous. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 both fell this week, driven by an AI and semiconductor stocks sell-off. Nvidia is down over 8% this week, while AMD shares fell about 5%. The losses come as investors grow more concerned that much of the AI boom is being funded by debt, especially as the Federal Reserve signals it could raise interest rates again.
Even OpenAI executives are reportedly considering holding off on the company’s highly anticipated IPO until next year because of the state of the market, The New York Times reports. Those executives have also kept a close eye on rival SpaceX’s IPO. Shares of Elon Musk’s rocket, satellite, and AI company are still trading only slightly above their $150 opening price after seeing a brief, record-setting spike.
Taken all together, these developments make it clear that data centers have more than just a PR problem.
