John Aziz / September 3, 2026

The Foreign Bots Shaping American Public Opinion

How Russian, Chinese, and Iranian AI agents manipulate debates on divisive political issues, including data centers.

A protester holds a sign reading "NO DATA CENTERS" with a red prohibition symbol in an outdoor setting lined with palm trees.

A protester participates in a demonstration against AI data center expansion outside Peace Hall in New Port Richey, Florida, on July 18, 2026. (Photo by Thomas Simonetti / AFP via Getty Images)

American public opinion toward data centers has shifted dramatically in the last year.

According to Heatmap Pro polling by Embold Research, Americans were more or less evenly divided in their support for the construction of data centers in August 2025. At that time, 43 percent supported a data center being built near where they lived, while 42 percent opposed it.