Latest Marquette Poll Finds Deep Skepticism of Data Centers and AI
'There’s pretty much bipartisan skepticism, both here in Wisconsin and nationally.'
Construction is underway at the site of Meta’s future data center Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Beaver Dam, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Marquette University Law School is out with a new national survey and Supreme Court poll that finds significant skepticism about data centers and artificial intelligence across all demographics.
The survey, conducted between April 8-16, found majorities of Republicans, Democrats, independents, men, women, all age groups and income levels believe the costs of data centers outweigh their potential benefits.
Poll Director Charles Franklin recently told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that national skepticism almost exactly lines up with a March poll of Wisconsin residents.
“It really is striking … I think what we’re seeing is there’s pretty much bipartisan skepticism, both here in Wisconsin and nationally,” he said. “That’s an awful lot of partisan agreement, where we normally see Republicans and Democrats on opposite ends of a question, not so in these national data. One thing that lies behind that is a really strong doubt about artificial intelligence.”
The poll found that 70 percent of respondents thought artificial intelligence is overall a bad thing for society.
These results come as multiple data center projects around the state are facing public backlash. Some projects, like ones in DeForest and Menomonie, are even getting canceled or tabled amid public opposition.
The poll focused on a number of topics, including data centers, inflation, tariffs and President Donald Trump’s public approval.
On tariffs, it found 66 percent of Americans agreed with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Trump’s tariffs under the International Emergency Powers Act. That’s higher than 59 percent of Wisconsin residents approving of the decision in the March Wisconsin poll.
“We’ve seen all year in both state and national polls that around 55-60 percent have said tariffs hurt the economy,” Franklin said. “Only around 25 percent or so say tariffs help the economy.”
But voter approval for that Supreme Court decision did not translate into overall approval for the nation’s highest court.
In the latest national survey, 57 percent of Americans said they disapprove of the way Supreme Court justices are doing their job. The last time a Marquette survey found a majority of people approving of the Supreme Court’s actions was in May of last year with 53 percent approval.
Marquette’s Supreme Court poll hasn’t found more than 54 percent approval for the court in any of its more than two dozen surveys since 2021.
For the first time, the Supreme Court poll asked Americans if they felt the country was a force for global stability or instability. The poll found that 60 percent of respondents found the country to be a global force of instability.
Franklin said that since this is the first time the poll asked this question, they don’t have official data to look back on how this sentiment has changed.
“But I can’t believe that in earlier decades, there wouldn’t have been a large majority who thought we were a stabilizing force in the world,” he said. “Without having data on the past, I would say I think this is a really stunning view of America by Americans that we’re not really doing the role that we played throughout the post-World War II era of forging alliances, working with our allies on all kinds of things.”
Latest Marquette polls find deep skepticism of data centers, artificial intelligence was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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