A new political advertising campaign is taking the fight over AI data centers straight to voters in key battleground states. Build American AI, a nonprofit group funded by tech industry billionaires, is preparing a campaign worth “millions of dollars” as public opposition to new facilities grows.
The push arrives at a moment when data center development has become a major political question. Who gets to decide where these facilities are built? Build American AI wants voters to see the issue through a pro-AI lens, while a growing share of the public says new data centers should not be built in their backyards.
A Multimillion-Dollar Push for Data Centers
Build American AI has not disclosed the campaign’s exact cost, but the advertising blitz is described as being in the “millions of dollars” range. The group is targeting key battleground states, turning a debate over AI infrastructure into a contest for public opinion.
The group’s backers include venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, two figures heavily invested in the continued growth of the data center boom. Their involvement connects the advertising campaign to the investors and technology leaders who stand to benefit from more AI infrastructure.
Greg Brockman, the president of OpenAI, is also involved. His $100 million super PAC, Leading the Future, is reportedly bankrolling the publicity campaign, giving the effort a major political funding source as it tries to shape the conversation around data center development.
That money gives the campaign room to reach voters at a moment when the public debate is already intensifying. The message is not limited to technical arguments about AI. Build American AI has framed the question as an existential threat and repeated the myth that opposition to data centers is a radical psy-op.
Public Opposition Is Moving in the Other Direction
The campaign faces a clear challenge from public opinion. An August 2026 survey by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center found that 61 percent of US adults oppose new data centers in their backyards.
That figure is up 12 percent from March, showing a stronger level of resistance than earlier in the year. The August result also gives opponents a powerful number to bring into local and national arguments over where new facilities should go.
The question is personal by design: not whether people support AI in the abstract, but whether they want a new data center near their homes. That distinction creates a sharp political divide between enthusiasm for AI technology and concern about the physical expansion needed to support it.
The survey result puts the pro-data-center campaign in a difficult position. Build American AI is spending millions of dollars to persuade voters, yet 61 percent of US adults already oppose new facilities in their backyards. The advertising effort now has to shift a public conversation that has moved against expansion.
Why This Fight Matters for AI’s Next Phase
Data centers sit at the center of the AI industry’s next phase because they are tied to the continued data center boom. Venture capital leaders such as Andreessen and Horowitz, along with OpenAI president Greg Brockman, are now connected to a campaign defending that development in the political arena.
That connection makes the advertising effort more than a standard technology promotion campaign. It shows how the future of AI is colliding with local public opinion, political spending, and debates over development. The fight is no longer confined to technology companies or investors; it is moving into battleground states and neighborhood-level concerns.
A public hearing in Tucson, Ariz., on Aug. 5, 2026, offers another date in this widening debate. The hearing appears in the same period as the August survey, when opposition to new data centers reached 61 percent. Together, the survey and the campaign reveal how quickly data center expansion has become a public issue.
Leading the Future brings serious political resources to the effort with $100 million in its super PAC. Build American AI brings a direct message about the stakes of data center development. The campaign now has to prove that message can overcome the growing number of Americans who oppose new facilities near their homes.
The next stage of the AI race may depend on more than models, money, or computing power. It may depend on whether communities accept the data centers required to support that race. As advertising spreads across key battleground states, the answer will be shaped not only by the technology industry, but by voters deciding what AI expansion should look like in their own backyards.
Based on
- Billionaires Pouring Money Into Ads About How AI Data Centers Are Actually Good — futurism.com
- AI Billionaire-Backed Group Launches Multimillion-Dollar Data Center Ad Campaign – Bloomberg — bloomberg.com
- Pro-AI group jumps into the data center fight with new ads aimed at reshaping public opinion — nbcnews.com
