In a rare moment of unity, Americans are fighting Big Tech together

In a rare moment of unity, Americans are fighting Major Tech together.

Key points

• Keith Self, who is running for reelection in Texas, posted on X, "Big Brother has NO place in the Lone Star State." Republican Sen.
• "Americans are coming together to agree on something, but for totally different reasons, " remarked Thomas Kahn, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University.
• "People really effing hate data centers, " Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, remarked at a campaign event in July.
• A YouGov Poll in July discovered that 7 in 10 adults believe technology businesses have too much power.
• Public opinion of the nation's largest technology firms and their sophisticated products dropped to multiyear lows in 2026, polls show.

In a rare moment of unity, Americans are fighting Major Tech together. Christopher Cann USA TODAY. Trump promotes data centers and power plants for expansion.

Trump notes data centers and power plants bring jobs, tax revenue and expansion, urging communities to welcome new development.

Technology is increasingly bringing Americans together. Just not the way we once envisioned.

Regarding a quarter century ago, 8 in 10 Americans stated they anticipated that the new millennium would usher in "the triumph of science and technology." At the time, most adults noted they had a positive view of computers and the internet.

Now Americans are increasingly united against rapidly advancing technologies and the firms behind them. Neighbors have rallied against data centers. Crowds at commencements booed artificial intelligence. And a lawsuit brought by 48 states against Meta over claims that its Facebook and Instagram platforms endangered children led to a landmark $18 billion settlement.

Public opinion of the nation's largest technology firms and their sophisticated products dropped to multiyear lows in 2026, polls show. And Americans say they are more concerned than excited regarding a future dominated by AI. More: Trump keeps touting data centers as Republicans try to pivot.

"Americans are coming together to agree on something, but for totally different reasons, " remarked Thomas Kahn, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University. "The motivations are different, but the concern is the same – and nationally we're seeing politicians respond to it."

Notably, the backlash has been strikingly bipartisan. From rural communities to sizeable cities, pushback against the initiatives of Silicon Valley is forming a unique coalition of liberals and conservatives. This is mirrored by the elected authorities speaking out against data centers and high-tech surveillance, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

In practice, the vitriol at times has led to threats and violence. In April, a man threw a Molotov cocktail at the home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Local authorities who have voted in favor of data centers have received death threats. And in August, a county commissioner in Tennessee remarked the CEO of Flock Safety. It maintains a vast network of AI-powered surveillance cameras, should be hanged for treason.

Tech titans have defended their products and largely brushed off reservations as overblown or misguided. Some executives and administration office-holders say allowing foreign adversaries to outpace the United States in AI development could jeopardize national security. Others argue restrictions could rob the world of a utopian future.

"Maybe with 10 gigawatts of compute, AI can figure out how to cure cancer. Or with 10 gigawatts of compute, AI can figure out how to provide customized tutoring to every student on earth, " Altman wrote on his blog last year. "If we are limited by compute, we'll have to choose which one to prioritize; no one wants to make that choice, so let's go build." Data center backlash goes mainstream.

Over the past year, data centers went from a little-discussed topic to a political lightning rod capable of reshaping elections.

These gargantuan facilities. It house thousands of powerful computers as well as data storage systems and networking equipment, are being built at a historic rate to meet the demand for AI and cloud computing. The difficulty: Americans don't want them.

Notably, a Gallup survey published this year identified roughly 71% of U.S. Adults oppose building data centers in their area, including 48% who noted they strongly oppose them.

Industry advocates, including President Donald Trump, say data centers are essential infrastructure for the AI era, supporting technological innovation, creating high-paying jobs and generating tax revenue for local communities. As well as the disruption to communities with noise and pollution, but nationwide, opponents have packed city council meetings to express fury regarding the strain on water and electricity resources.

Plenty of politicians have either seized on the outrage or scrambled to shield themselves from the growing anger.

"People really effing hate data centers, " Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, remarked at a campaign event in July. Days afterwards, the governors of Texas and Pennsylvania – both of whom celebrated data center projects last year – unveiled new restrictions on the computing hubs.

In the first three months of 2026, local opposition has blocked or delayed at least 75 data center projects worth roughly $130 billion, according to Data Center Watch, a research firm that studies data centers. Still, more than 1, 500 data centers are under development.

Residents in areas with functioning or proposed data centers informed the USA TODAY Network they had a range of worries, from plummeting property values to rising electricity bills to a lack of public notice.

Raneem Imam of Memphis lately attended a City Council gathering to backing a moratorium on new data centers. She informed The Commercial Appeal, part of the USA TODAY Network, she was "feeling very voiceless" and had a lingering sense of being "walked all over" by substantial tech firms. (Elon Musk's SpaceXAI operates three data centers in Memphis and lately unveiled intends for a fourth.).

In the small town of Manchester, New Jersey, Anne Cahalane was among a group of local residents demanding a similar ban on sizeable computing hubs.

"That's the last thing we need here, " she informed the Asbury Park Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. She called a recent data center proposal "reckless and dangerous." Movement intends to 'stop Flock'.

In practice, the latest front in Americans' war on tech has taken the form of automated license plate readers.

Though a number of businesses produce the surveillance technology, the largest is Flock Safety. It maintains a network of 120, 000 AI-powered cameras throughout 49 states.

Unlike older surveillance cameras, Flock transfers information captured by its devices into a searchable database that authorities can access without a warrant. The firm states its cameras scan 20 billion vehicles every month.

Flock CEO Garrett Langley and plenty of police office-holders say the cameras provide law enforcement with an essential crime-fighting tool that has supported find missing residents, recover stolen vehicles and track down suspects, including in high-profile crimes such as the 2025 mass shooting at Brown University. Flock notes its cameras assist solve 700, 000 crimes each year.

But outrage over the technology has erupted in recent months against the backdrop of worries regarding privacy, mass surveillance and police misconduct. The backlash intensified after reports of immigration authorities accessing Flock data, officers abusing the network to stalk women, and misreads that led to innocent individuals held at gunpoint.

Activists and residents have rallied against the technology, chanting and holding signs reading "Safety is not surveillance" and "Get The Flock Out." The backlash additionally prompted lawsuits and a string of vigilantism that has seen residents cut down, run over or shoot dozens of Flock cameras nationwide. The uproar has even drawn the attention of the president. This person remarked his stance on the matter is "under review."

This year, regarding 100 jurisdictions nationwide have paused or canceled their contracts with Flock, according to data collected by the group DeFlock. The firm has stated the number of jurisdictions partnering with Flock far outpaces the number canceling their agreements.

Still, the pushback led Langley to announce a slew of measures aimed at curbing police misuse. In an interview with USA TODAY, Langley remarked Flock will require all law enforcement agencies to adopt an audit system that flags abnormal search behavior. He additionally stated data unrelated to an ongoing case will be retained for seven days instead of 30.

But as with data centers, elected authorities of both parties have come out against the technology, seizing on Americans' fury.

Republican Rep. Keith Self, who is running for reelection in Texas, posted on X, "Big Brother has NO place in the Lone Star State." Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri confirmed a congressional investigation into the business. And Sanders, D-Vermont, pledged to introduce legislation to rein in the technology.

"If you are dropping your kids off at school, Flock knows. If you are going to a doctor, Flock knows, " Sanders posted on X. "We must come together to stop Flock and AI mass surveillance." Ominous warnings regarding an AI-powered future.

Anger at data centers and Flock cameras comes as Americans sour on AI and the powerful firms behind it.

Meanwhile, a survey from Pew Research discovered that 52% of Americans say they're more concerned than excited concerning rose apply of AI in daily life, up from 37% in 2021. For Gen-Z, which has adopted the technology more than any other age group, only 1 in 10 say they're more excited than concerned.

Anxiety regarding AI largely centers on the potential for mass job loss, a scenario tech executives themselves have cautioned regarding.

Altman forecasts a "difficult economic transition, " and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei remarked AI could wipe outhalf of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years. More lately, Microsoft founder Bill Gates cautioned that "many jobs will disappear forever" and that AI could become the "worst source of injustice." And Meta walked back sweeping intends to reduce its workforce through AI, Reuters noted.

Americans, meanwhile, are growing tired of what plenty of call "AI slop, " a term describing low-quality content generated by artificial intelligence. The pushback prompted a number of businesses, including LinkedIn and Spotify, to purge their platforms of the digital waste.

As Americans' views on AI turn negative, so have their view of Major Tech.

Meanwhile, a YouGov Poll in July discovered that 7 in 10 adults believe technology businesses have too much power. And while most respondents remarked they had lately applied AI, fewer than 1 in 5 remarked they trust tech firms to manage the development and deployment of the technology.

Taken together, the developments around in a rare moment of unity, Americans are fighting Big Tech together point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.