AI Billionaires Fund Ad Blitz as Data Center Opposition Hits 61%

In brief

• Build American AI said Monday it will spend millions on advertising in Kansas, Ohio and Wisconsin defending data center construction.
• The group is backed by Leading the Future, a super PAC whose funders include Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz and OpenAI President Greg Brockman.
• Annenberg polling puts opposition to local data centers at 61%, up from 49% in the spring.

An advocacy group funded by artificial intelligence billionaires is spending millions on ads in three battleground states to defend data centers, Bloomberg reported Monday.

Build American AI, backed by the super PAC Leading the Future, starts in Kansas, Ohio and Wisconsin, where the issue has taken over statewide races. Its statement warned against letting "the loudest and most extreme voices" dictate the country's future. The advocacy group has not disclosed its budget, beyond noting that it is in the millions of dollars.

Annenberg Public Policy Center polling of 1,320 U.S. adults between June 16 and July 19 found that 61% opposed new data centers in their area, against 49% in a February and March survey. Majorities of Democrats (69%), Republicans (54%) and independents (53%) were opposed.

Views of AI overall barely shifted over the same months, and opposition ran at 60% among heavy AI users against 64% among people who never touch it. "Even heavy AI users seem to be concerned about these very concrete worries," said Matthew Levendusky of the policy center.