Meta warns that election backlash against data centers could make AI expansion harder

TechCrunch · Sarah Perez · 2026-11-05 19:12 UTC

Meta warns that growing political opposition to data centers could threaten future AI investments, as communities push back against massive infrastructure projects.

Meta president Dina Powell McCormick said that the Democratic wins in the midterm elections are going to make it a lot harder for companies to build data centers, adding that the industry has “not done as good a job as we needed to explain the benefits of these investments.”

Speaking at the WSJ Tech conference on Wednesday, the Meta exec pointed out that the backlash against data centers — which was very much on the ballot during this election season — was also tied to people’s feelings about AI technology overall.

“The visible sort of manifestation of AI is a data center, and it’s something that people can say, ‘I don’t want this in my community,’” she explained. “I think there’s an underlying bigger issue, which is how people feel about AI in general.”

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