Distributed Data Centers Could Help With Public Trust

ORLANDO, May 20, 2026 — AI data centers require power at a scale that is straining American infrastructure, and the communities where that power must be deployed are pushing back. A panel Wednesday examined how distributed data center architecture, connected by fiber, could resolve both problems simultaneously.

Seventy percent of Americans oppose having an AI data center built near them, more than the 53 percent who oppose a nuclear plant nearby, said Sachin Gupta of Centranet, the Stillwater, Oklahoma-based fiber broadband provider. The figures come from a Gallup poll published this month.