Meta warns election backlash against data centers could hinder AI expansion

Meta president Dina Powell McCormick warned that the Democratic wins in the midterm elections will make it considerably harder for companies to construct data centres, adding that the industry has “not done as good a job as we needed to explain the benefits of these investments.” She made the comments at the Wall Street Journal Tech conference on Wednesday.

Powell McCormick said the backlash against data centres, which featured prominently on ballots during the election season, is also linked to public feelings about artificial intelligence overall. “The visible sort of manifestation of AI is a data centre, and it’s something that people can say, ‘I don’t want this in my community,’” she explained, adding “I think there’s an underlying bigger issue, which is how people feel about AI in general.”

Meta believes it can reverse the negative consumer sentiment around AI by demonstrating the value of data centres to local communities as well as the benefits of the technology itself. “The stakes of who builds the technology that cures cancer, that gives access to education, that is also a very fundamental difference … Mark [Zuckerberg, Meta CEO] is very ‘long human,’ and he’s betting on humans more than machines,” Powell McCormick said, concluding “And that’s what we mean when we say the future is for everyone. That people should not be left behind. But the way to ensure that is that this technology is democratized, that people have access to it in a very fair and transparent way.”

The executive highlighted Meta’s two‑decade experience in building data centres, noting the company has been doing so for 20 years. She said Meta now operates data centres in 23 states and has five projects, including one in Texas, that are planned at 1 gigawatt or more.

Powell McCormick warned that the company could lose some investments after politicians ran on anti‑data‑centre platforms during the midterms. “I think it’s going to be harder,” she said, adding that while it has been difficult, “it’s becoming clear what models work, and the states want those models that work.”

She said communities only support data centres when they see local benefits, outlining Meta’s typical approach: the firm pays for its own electricity, directs any tax surpluses to teachers and first responders, keeps the labour force local and seeks bipartisan support for the project.

Looking ahead, Powell McCormick expects data‑centre projects to face increased review and to be weighed against whether constituents actually want them.

Meta has placed its hopes on AI investments, particularly its consumer AI agent Muse, which has surpassed 10 million users and aims to eventually serve billions. Even if that target is not reached, the company believes the compute generated by its data centres will remain valuable.

“We’re getting calls every day to lease that compute [we’ve built], and so one way or another, we’re seeing a path to monetisation,” Powell McCormick said.