Pennsylvania Poll Finds 79% Reject Local Data Centers as 84% Back Tighter AI Rules

Pennsylvania voters are wary of both artificial intelligence and the physical infrastructure built to support it: 79% oppose a data center in their community, and 84% favor closer federal regulation of AI companies.

The state has added conditions to the buildout

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s executive order asks data-center developers to sign agreements covering clean-energy and job-creation requirements. It also requires proof of local approvals before state permits or authorizations and places conditions on Pennsylvania’s data-center sales-tax exemption.

Two further changes shape the process

• Agencies under the governor’s control are barred from signing nondisclosure agreements for data-center projects.
• Data centers are no longer eligible for the governor’s Fast Track program for major-project permitting.

Voter anxiety extends beyond a single facility

The Franklin & Marshall College Poll found that 76% of respondents were nervous about recent AI advances, five percentage points higher than in fall 2025. Support for closer federal regulation rose from 79% in October 2025 to 84% in the latest survey.

84%Back tighter federal AI regulation

Registered Pennsylvania voters said AI companies need more federal regulation.

79%Oppose a local data center

Registered Pennsylvania voters said they did not want a data center built in their community.

76%Nervous about recent AI advances

Respondents said they felt nervous about recent AI developments.

Local resistance is already taking a policy form

Sixty-six percent of registered voters said smartphones, social media and AI have had a more negative than positive effect on society. In July, Reading enacted a six-month moratorium on new data-center proposals, placing a local pause alongside the statewide requirements.

The next test is project-level consent

The survey interviewed 501 registered Pennsylvania voters from Aug. 17 through 23 by phone and online. Results were weighted by demographic and voter-registration characteristics, with a reported 5.5-percentage-point sample error after weighting. It captures statewide voter attitudes, while the order makes local approval a requirement for developers seeking state action.