The reasons AI data centers have become more hated than nuclear power plants

In The Loop · May 21, 2026 · 16m

Americans now say they'd rather live next to a nuclear reactor than an AI data center.

That's not a fringe view — a Gallup poll published this month found 71% of Americans oppose a data center near their home, versus 53% for nuclear.

Nuclear carries Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and forty years of films about radiation in the cultural zeitgeist. The fact that AI data centers have only been a visible part of suburban America for less than five years yet are this hated, is huge.

In this episode of In The Loop, I'm looking at the organised opposition movement that has already blocked over $85…