Data centers have generated widespread public opposition and become a political flashpoint in the upcoming November midterms. Americans blame data centers for spiking utility bills due to the strain that the power-starved facilities impose on energy grids struggling to serve them.
According to a Pew Research Center poll published on Sept. 22, 50% of Americans said data centers had a negative effect on home energy costs, while 54% said the same about the impact on the environment.
‘Any big company has to be a good community citizen’
Dimon believes that AI companies involved in the data center blitz must take steps to be a constructive presence in the cities they’re seeking to build in.
“Any big company has to be a good community citizen. So I think a lot of these people are doing it,” Dimon said. “They’re going into town. They’re being part of the community, they’re helping the community, they get the rights. They, you know, make commitments that won’t raise consumer electricity costs. It’s just things like that and that’ll be worked through.”
Not everyone shares Dimon’s rosy assessment of the situation. On Sept. 2, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued blistering criticism of the hyperscalers carrying out the $700 billion AI-related construction spree.
“The industry has done a terrible job, terrible job of explaining themselves,” Bessent said at the Charlotte Economics Club in North Carolina. He added that the AI industry and the federal government share a responsibility “to explain to the American public how this benefits them both from a use case, from a national security case, from a quality of life case.”
Dimon’s AI optimism
Dimon said he believes that AI will yield enormous benefits to society, beginning with medical ones.
“I do think it’ll cure a lot of diseases, and it’ll save accidents on the road…It’ll make life unbelievable for people,” he told Bloomberg. “The downside is obviously what you read about with the agents and Mythos and all these things that can cause trouble and that’s a legitimate concern.”
Other chief executives have chimed in to make a case for AI development as well. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos told Fox News that he believes AI will deliver more flexibility to Americans to work fewer hours if they choose.
“Some people will also decide, you know what? I can support my family working three days a week,” Bezos said. “That’s what productivity in the economy means.”
Joseph Zeballos-Roig is a policy and politics journalist based in Washington D.C with a focus on economics. He is experienced in connecting the significance of events in the capital to the lives of everyday Americans whether its taxes, tariffs, interest rates or federal programs.
