We’re monitoring the situation, and we regret to inform you that it’s getting worse.

Polling on data center sentiment continues to paint a bleak picture for Americans’ cross-aisle attitudes on data centers. Sentiment has deteriorated rapidly in 2026.

Heatmap News, for example, found in August last year that 43% of respondents supported data center development in their area, versus 42% opposing such construction. In February, that gridlock shifted marginally to a majority opposition.

Now, 75% of American oppose data center development in their area, according to their most recent poll, with 61% strongly opposing, a staggering leap from last August’s 24%.

And unlike other hot political topics, the defiance is firmly bi-partisan. A May Gallup poll found that 75% of Democrats (19% somewhat opposing and 56% strongly opposing) and 63% of Republicans (24% somewhat opposing and 39% strongly opposing) do not want data center construction in their backyard.

NIMBYism now undeniably dominates that data discourse.

The AI industry has been caught so flatfooted here. So much so, that the National Republican Senatorial Committee has actually circulated a memo to AI company that in effect says, “Get off your asses and do something, because we risk losing Ohio in the midterms over this PR disaster.”

The memo focuses on Sherrod Brown’s campaign attack on incumbent Jon Husted in a Senate special election for Ohio, with Brown airing ads that frame Husted as a sell-out to Big Data Center™.

“Campaigns or party committees can not fix the toxic brand of an entire segment of the economy. The companies that need these projects built have to fix how Ohioans see them: who benefits, who pays, and why a community should want one. Until that happens, the issue will continue to dominate this race. If it is still this potent in November, elected officials everywhere will treat Ohio as their reason to work against data centers in the future. If voters' perceptions of data centers are not fixed quickly, the campaign against them will expand far beyond Ohio,” the memo reads.

Hate to break it to you, chief, but this is already a national issue.

The only real question that remains leading into November is whether this is a public relations fumble from tech companies, or if it’s simply a symptom of long-ingrained skepticism of Big Tech and the latest example of the trenchant populism that is increasingly defining American politics.

-CMH

KEEL (NASDAQ: KEEL; TSX: KEEL), formerly Bitfarms, said Thursday that Pennsylvania’s new data center development rules will not affect permitting schedules for its Panther Creek and Sharon projects. Governor Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2026-05 on August 18. The order requires covered data centers seeking state permits to accept enforceable obligations under the Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development standards and secure local approval before the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection begins its review.

B. Riley Securities reiterated its Buy rating and $75 price target on Applied Digital (NASDAQ: APLD) on Friday after visiting the operator’s Polaris Forge 2 campus in North Dakota. The target implies about 162% upside from the stock’s prior close of $28.65. Analyst Nick Giles said Building 1’s shell was complete, with electrical and mechanical contractors installing interior systems.

Citadel has unwound more than 80% of the aggregate risk from the portfolio it acquired from Situational Awareness, according to a Friday client letter from founder and CEO Ken Griffin. The hedge fund executed more than 100 block trades representing over $4 billion in market value, Griffin said in the letter, which was obtained by CNBC. Citadel did not identify the securities traded, their sale prices or the exposure still on its books.

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