faded blue image of a data center, with powerlines and interupted line graph overlay

Andrea Austria / Media Matters

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Right-wing media figures are split on AI and data centers

Amid internal divisions within the Trump admin on how to regulate AI, right-wing media are split on AI’s benefits and whether data centers pose a risk

Written by Jack Winstanley & Hanne MacDonald

Published

As novel AI tools continue to emerge and massive data center construction projects generate local and national controversy, right-wing media are divided over the impacts of the technology and the infrastructure that supports it. Some right-wing figures have been critical of AI, arguing it poses an “existential threat” to civilization and that data centers “deserve the rap they’re getting.” Others have championed continued growth of AI and data center construction, claiming that “data centers are good for society, good for the economy” and downplaying concerns that people living near them “might have to put on some earmuffs” or “might have to move.” 

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  • Trump administration takes steps to regulate AI as the technology comes under scrutiny

    • On June 2, President Donald Trump signed an executive order asking companies to provide the government with early access to new AI models before they launch to assess them for cybersecurity risks. The executive order came after the Department of Defense’s showdown with Anthropic, which has been blacklisted by the Pentagon over security concerns, and the release of the company's Mythos product, which was explicitly marketed to exploit cybersecurity vulnerabilities. [CNN, 6/2/26; White House, 6/2/26; Anthropic, 4/7/26]
    • Trump initially delayed signing the executive order, citing fears that it would impede U.S. competitiveness. The delay, which reportedly followed a call from former White House crypto and AI czar David Sacks, also coincided with splits within the administration over the extent to which the federal government should be stepping in to regulate AI models. Sacks reportedly advocated an anti-regulatory stance while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was “pushing for greater barriers to Mythos-type models.” [NBC News, 5/21/26; Politico, 5/28/26; Bloomberg, 12/6/24]
    • On June 12, the Trump administration imposed export controls on Anthropic’s Fable and Mythos models, citing “national security authority.” Politico reports that the administration's move came after “tense calls” between Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and administration officials who could not come to an agreement on how to remedy the White House's concerns. [Politico, 6/13/26]
    • Data centers are facing widespread backlash across the country — including Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary’s formerly planned 40,000-acre data center project in Utah — with some localities even prohibiting their construction. The rapid growth of data centers has angered residents across Utah. A coalition of groups in New Jersey have petitioned the governor to pause all data center projects due to their impacts on residents and the environment. Denver’s city council approved a one-year moratorium on new data center projects following public pushback. And, backlash against data centers has also begun to emerge in the Make America Healthy Again coalition, with one MAHA media figure calling the continued construction of data centers “not compatible with the promise to Make America Healthy Again.” [Fortune, 5/11/26; Inside Climate News, 5/14/26; NewJersey.com, 5/17/26; Axios Denver, 5/18/26; Media Matters, 6/10/26]
    • Amid the growing data center backlash, right-wing media personalities have had mixed reactions, with some suggesting that China is behind the protests, while others have admitted that “a lot of the opposition is grassroots.” In one Fox Business appearance, O’Leary stated that “the Communist government of China is undermining the U.S. by fueling anti-AI data center protests.” Fox News later made on-air apologies for O'Leary's claim, noting there was “no evidence” and that Fox News “apologizes for the error.” [Media Matters, 6/10/26; Business Insider, 6/29/26]
    • Calls for regulation around AI have been brewing within the MAGA camp, with an open-letter signed by over 60 “loyal allies of President Trump,” including Steve Bannon, urging government security testing and approval of AI models. In the past year, several other open letters calling for limits or regulations on AI development were directed toward the administration. At least two were co-signed by Bannon, and at least one was signed by conservative media personality Glenn Beck. [Axios, 5/18/26; NBC News, 3/4/26; Time, 10/22/25]

  • Some right-wing media figures have criticized AI and data centers, highlighting negative impacts

    • Podcaster Candace Owens urged people to “cause an uproar” over planned data centers in their communities. She added, “There are more of us than them.” [YouTube, Candace, 5/20/26]
    • Host Alex Jones called data centers “the new system to rape us.” In another episode, Jones explained that AI is “being deployed to make us obsolete.” He continued, “There's not enough hype of how dangerous this is.” [The Alex Jones Network, Alex Jones Live, 5/17/26, 5/13/26]
    • Jones said that data centers “sound like a trillion fingernails on a chalkboard,” and stated that “the globalists are deploying it [AI] to replace us.” Jones continued, “They're stealing almost all the water and they do whatever they want.” With regards to AI rollouts, Jones stated, “We’re just stepping aside and saying yeah, we’re not going to have any prohibitions on this, we’re not going to have any controls. In fact, we’re not going to have any studies on it, even though the numbers are already showing young people and AI are losing IQ, getting depressed, alone, destroying relationships.” [The Alex Jones Network, Alex Jones Live, 6/1/26]
    • On Outnumbered, Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway shared sympathy for college graduates who booed commencement speakers discussing AI positively. She continued, “I actually kind of understand what the students are going through. Imagine that you have spent so much money to receive what is considered an education. … Then you have basically no job prospects because of how disruptive AI has been for the job market. I think it's something that people should understand.” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 5/18/26]
    • Podcaster Megyn Kelly stated that she is “very worried about AI,” and shared concerns that there is a lack of discussion on the “existential threat” AI could pose to human life. Additionally, Kelly called out the potential “elimination of all of our children's livelihoods.” In a later episode, Kelly doubled down, arguing that “the American public should have a piece of it” since “their kids are not going to have jobs” and adults “are going to have their livelihoods wiped out.” [SiriusXM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 5/18/26, 6/11/26]
    • Tucker Carlson criticized Trump for “encouraging more surveillance, more spying on Americans, to encouraging data centers across the country to abet that surveillance.” In another episode, Carlson also claimed that “there's been no real effort to explain to you or me or anyone how this is going to be great for us.” According to Carlson, major AI developers have focused on “telling us this is going to end everything that we love, including human autonomy, our jobs, our economy. It'll basically be a slave state run by machines.” [YouTube, The Tucker Carlson Show, 5/20/26, 5/18/26]
    • All-In Podcast co-host Chamath Palihapitiya: “To be very clear and blunt, there is literally not a scintilla of evidence that AI has helped lift the operating margins of the S&P 500.” He also stated that the AI industry “doesn't have a measurable benefit for themselves,” and argued that “eventually it all comes home to roost” when AI investors want to see returns on their investments. [YouTube, All-In Podcast, 5/8/26]
    • PBD Podcast co-host Tom Ellsworth stated that “data centers deserve the rap they’re getting.” He added that complaints about ambient noise, water use, and power problems were well-founded, though argued that legislation could be created to offset some of the concerns. [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 5/11/26]
    • On former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, American Principles Project President Terry Schilling argued that AI wants to “subjugate us and colonize all of rural America.” Schilling shared concerns that AI data centers will “drive up energy costs, it's going to drive up water costs, it's going to drive down the value of the land. … We have to stop this all over the country.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 4/6/26]
    • Podcaster Jimmy Dore argued that “our own government” is working with AI developers to “create a surveillance state and make sure we don't have jobs.” [YouTube, The Jimmy Dore Show, 5/16/26]
    • In a social media post played on War Room, right-wing influencer Mike Cernovich argued that data centers would support “cradle to the grave surveillance.” In the video, which Bannon called “100% correct,” Cernovich also argued that Big Tech is using “populist messaging” to continue “profiteering.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 5/14/26]
    • Discussing the need to “beat China” at AI development, Daily Wire host Matt Walsh said, “If we impoverish millions of people and empower bureaucrats and Big Tech oligarchs with surveillance tools beyond their wildest imagination, then what good is it to win the race?” Walsh continued, “How is human welfare secured or advanced by creating a society where we are tracked and surveilled every hour of the day? And at the same time, millions of jobs become obsolete all at once.” [The Daily Wire, The Matt Walsh Show, 5/14/26]
    • Far-right podcaster Stew Peters stated, “The data centers are not a good thing. And there's not a good argument that makes the data centers a good thing,” calling them “digital prisons.” Peters also claimed that the data center project in Utah uses “more than two times the amount of power that the entire state currently uses.” [The Stew Peters Network, Stew Peters Financial, 6/13/26]

  • Others have expressed their support for AI and data center construction, with some dismissing potential harms

    • TheBlaze’s Glenn Beck proclaimed, “If you are just against the data centers, I can’t help you. I think you’re wrong on that.” Later, he added, “If you don't like the idea of the data center in your county, how do you feel about your grandchildren being under the thumb of an all-powerful AI that comes from China? Because those are the stakes, as I see them.” [TheBlaze, The Glenn Beck Program, 6/5/26]
    • On The Mark Levin Show, guest host Brian Mudd argued that job loss due to AI is overstated since “less sexy-sounding companies” that build the data centers will be hiring. He stated, “Bottom line is, it always makes the news when you have like a high-profile tech company that announces AI related layoffs,” adding later, “What doesn't make the news is when all these less sexy-sounding companies and jobs, the construction jobs, HVAC jobs, the whatever that goes in, and you're certainly the small companies, those under 20 employees, all these jobs are being added.” [Westwood One, The Mark Levin Show, 6/5/26]
    • The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro pushed back on concerns about energy prices being impacted by data centers, stating, “Red states just regulate energy far less than blue states.” He also dismissed concerns about water consumption, claiming that “as for the argument that data centers are going to disproportionately consume water, we should look at what actually disproportionately consumes water in the United States. … Almonds.” [The Daily Wire, The Ben Shapiro Show, 5/18/26]
    • In another episode, Shapiro argued, “If you are concerned about things like inflation, one of the things that will allow for deflation, that will allow for prices to actually come down, is the increased productivity that is a result of innovation via AI.” [The Daily Wire, The Ben Shapiro Show, 6/4/26]
    • During an interview with podcaster and former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Heritage Foundation economist Peter St. Onge claimed that “AI uses almost no water” and suggested that companies “have to learn how to bribe local towns” to build data centers. St. Onge discussed concerns about power usage and data centers, claiming, “People worry about the energy usage of data centers. Trump recently required that AI companies have to build their own [power] generation. It's a very, very good idea. The water thing is B.S. — AI uses almost no water.” [Rumble, The Dan Bongino Show, 5/29/26]
    • Bongino minimized the environmental concerns of data centers, calling the criticism “an op.” Later in his podcast, Bongino argued that AI dominance was a national security concern, adding, “I know they're not popular. I get it. However, what are you going to do? AI — You're going to let China build a bunch of data centers to use advanced AI products to hack every single U.S. bank, contract system, water plant? We don't have a choice.” [Rumble, The Dan Bongino Show, 5/27/26, 5/27/26]
    • On The Joe Rogan Experience, MAGA billionaire Marc Andreessen said, “If you're ever going to build anything, a data center is the most benign thing you could ever build because it doesn't do anything.” He went on to describe the backlash to Kevin O'Leary's proposed data center in Utah as “a weird issue,” claiming, “You're never going to see it. It's out in the middle of nowhere.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 5/19/26; Fortune, 12/11/24]
    • PBD Podcast co-host Adam Sosnick dismissed concerns that ambient noise from data centers would harm people's hearing, saying that people living nearby “might have to put on some earmuffs” or “might have to move.” Sosnick: “If it's going to affect some people's hearings, you might have to move. They might not have to build the data plant, data centers, right there. But at the end of the day, data centers are good for society, good for the economy, and just, you might have to put on some earmuffs like in old school.” [Valuetainment Media, PBD Podcast, 5/11/26]
    • On The Five, Fox’s Greg Gutfeld argued that AI is “going to create as many jobs as it gets rid of.” Gutfeld also likened the advent of AI to the invention of the automobile, arguing, “The way the automobile sped up travel, AI is going to speed up research.” [Fox News, The Five, 5/13/26]
    • Podcaster Joe Rogan suggested that AI “could analyze where all the money goes and eliminate all the fraud and waste” in the federal government. He also argued that such AI integration “would be a great benefit and a way to make it so that your taxes directly benefit people.” [YouTube, The Joe Rogan Experience, 5/5/26]