Photo credit: Jack Walsh – Crain’s Detroit Business
Voters Are Chilly Toward Data Centers, Poll Shows, as Unions Push AI Worker Protections
February 24, 2026
Crain’s Detroit Business
February 23, 2026
David Eggert
A major business group is concerned about Michigan voters’ negative or neutral perceptions of data centers, while unions want lawmakers to regulate a big reason the facilities are booming: artificial intelligence.
The Detroit Regional Chamber on Monday released a poll showing that nearly two-thirds of voters have no position on data centers while a quarter are opposed. Just 5% support the facilities that are in demand amid a national AI “goldrush” and the state’s enactment of data center tax breaks.
“It’s very clear that Michiganders don’t know what data centers are, what they do and what the value of these are,” Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Sandy K. Baruah said. “We look at data centers very much like the critical infrastructure that built Michigan and frankly America.”
Baruah said people are “listening to or seeing the protests” against data centers and “no one is really advocating the facts around data centers” on issues such as water usage and electricity rates.