Meta warns that resistance to data center construction is rising, and political backlash may affect AI expansion plans

At a tech conference hosted by The Wall Street Journal, Meta President Dina Powell McCormick said that a Democratic victory in the midterm elections could create more obstacles for companies building data centers. She believes the industry has failed to adequately explain to the public the practical value and benefits these investments can bring.

She pointed out that during this year's election season, the data center issue repeatedly became a focus of campaign discussion, and public opposition to data centers actually reflects their concerns about artificial intelligence technology itself. As the AI industry develops rapidly, more and more residents are beginning to pay attention to the impact large data centers have on the local environment, resources, and community life.

McCormick said that data centers are the most intuitive and most visible physical manifestation of artificial intelligence, so residents can easily develop the idea of "I don't want it built near my community." In her view, the deeper question is how the public at large views the development of AI technology and its impact.

Nevertheless, Meta still believes this negative sentiment can be reversed. The company believes that as long as it can show the public the concrete value that data center investments bring to community development and the application of artificial intelligence technology, there is still room to improve social acceptance.

She said artificial intelligence has the potential to drive development in many fields such as healthcare and education, for example by helping develop technologies to treat cancer and expanding access to educational resources. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has consistently emphasized that technology should serve humanity rather than replace people. The company believes future development should benefit everyone, so it must ensure that AI is opened and made available to the public in a fair and transparent way, rather than being held in the hands of only a few.

When discussing infrastructure construction, McCormick emphasized that Meta already has 20 years of data center operating experience. Because the social networking business itself requires massive computing power support, the company has long been continuously building data centers. Meta currently has data centers deployed in 23 U.S. states, including five projects in Texas and elsewhere with planned capacity reaching or exceeding 1 gigawatt.

However, as more and more politicians make opposition to data center construction a campaign platform, Meta is beginning to worry that some investment plans may be affected. McCormick acknowledged that building data centers will become more difficult in the future; although the process was never easy in the past, it is also becoming clearer which construction models can gain approval from local governments and communities.

She said that community acceptance of data center projects now depends largely on whether the projects can bring tangible benefits to the local area. When Meta currently seeks project approval, it commits to bearing the electricity costs itself, using the additional tax revenue generated by data centers to support public service groups such as teachers and first responders, prioritizing local labor, and seeking bipartisan support.

She expects that future data center construction projects will face stricter review procedures, and that governments and communities will place greater emphasis on whether local residents truly welcome these facilities.

For Meta, large-scale data center construction is an important part of its AI strategy. The company is particularly optimistic about the prospects of its consumer AI assistant Muse, hoping its user base can expand further from the current approximately 10 million people and ultimately grow into an important business serving billions of users.

However, Meta said that even if some AI businesses fail to reach expected scale in the future, the company's investment in data centers will not be wasted. McCormick revealed that a large number of companies have already proactively contacted Meta hoping to rent its completed computing resources. She said the company receives related inquiries almost every day, so regardless of how these computing resources are ultimately operated, they have clear commercial value and monetization paths.