• A growing share of Americans living in rural areas aren't happy with data centers.
• Most data centers are built in rural areas.
• Data centers are facing a public reckoning amid bipartisan pushback.

Americans living in rural areas are increasingly souring on data centers.

In a new poll by the Pew Research Center, which surveyed people in August, half of rural Americans said data centers "are mostly bad for the environment" — a figure substantially higher than in January, when it sat at 32%.

46% of those respondents also said that data centers would drive up home energy costs, up from 32% in January. 45% said they negatively impact the quality of life for those living nearby, while 28% said so in January.

While displeasure with data centers increased among Americans across the board, according to Pew, higher levels of antagonism among rural voters are striking because most data centers are built in rural areas.

The data center buildout, which proponents say is integral for the US to keep pace with China in the AI race, has been suffering a PR crisis as a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers moves to impose limits on data center construction.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbot, who was formerly bullish about building data centers in his state, recently backed away from that optimism. His administration has halted some 1,800 AI data center projects in the state.

All across the country, Americans are rallying to fight against AI data centers, which can cost billions to build and span hundreds of acres. Many are concerned about how the sprawling facilities will affect the environment, utility prices, water resources, and noise levels. Some just don't like AI.

For AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Google, and others, the issue is existential. Without AI data centers, they can't power the products they sell. Sam Altman has recently suggested that new data centers could be built far from where people lived, such as the desert.

Proponents of data centers have said the buildout brings jobs to rural areas. Venture capitalist Gavin Baker recently said that data centers are "probably the best thing that has ever happened to working-class Americans."

Tech bros haven't been able to agree on exactly why Americans aren't taking to the data center buildout. Some have postulated that a Chinese-orchestrated psy-op is behind the distrust, while others said tech leaders haven't sold the product well.

President Donald Trump, for his part, called the data center buildout "the golden goose," and warned against falling behind China.

"The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor," Trump said in August in a Truth Social post.

In the Pew poll, very few Americans — about 4% — said data centers are "good" for the environment, energy costs, and quality of life.

"Americans have grown more negative toward the possible environmental and economic effects of data centers since the beginning of the year," Pew said in a release. "And a majority say they'd be uncomfortable if a new data center started operating in their area."

• Alex Gibney's Elon Musk documentary, "Musk," examines the mogul's life and career.
• There's plenty of material on Musk's highs (Tesla, SpaceX) and lows (DOGE, his relationships).
• Here are the 3 most explosive parts of the doc.

In an era when documentaries about famous people can be as light and sweet as the snacks you eat while watching them, Alex Gibney is going against the grain. His new documentary, "Musk," which premiered at Venice Film Festival on Sept. 8, proves there's still room for hard-hitting investigative docs in Hollywood — as long as you're willing to sit through its nearly four-hour runtime.

From tackling Scientology in "Going Clear" to Theranos' Elizabeth Holmes in "The Inventor," Gibney has never backed away from a thorny topic. With "Musk," the Oscar-winning filmmaker pulls no punches, painting a thorough portrait of the man who turned companies like Tesla and SpaceX into household names.

The doc, which traces Musk's life from 20-something Silicon Valley start-up entrepreneur to becoming President Donald Trump's right-hand man during his second term, has ignited the ire of its subject since it was announced in 2023. At the time, Musk called the film a "hit piece" on X, to which Gibney responded, "How would you know?" The two have been locked in an online battle ever since.

Although Musk did not sit down for an interview for "Musk," that didn't stop Gibney from getting his subject on camera — sort of.

Thanks to the ingenuity of Gibney's team and the magic of AI, the documentary features a Musk avatar who's been trained on all available interviews the mogul has given. Avatar-Musk shows up throughout to comment on everything from why he believes we're all living in a simulation to his obsession with going to Mars.

It's a cheeky deployment of emerging technology at the CEO's expense. But it's not the only segment that paints Musk in an unflattering light.

Business Insider screened "Musk" the day it premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Here are three times Gibney goes after Musk hard.

Business Insider reached out to Musk for comment on the documentary, but did not receive a response.

The failures of Tesla's self-driving feature Autopilot are back in the spotlight

The documentary delves into how Musk got involved in Tesla and turned it into a cash cow once the company went public. It also explores the darker side of Tesla's Autopilot, a self-driving feature that has been at the center of several lawsuits.

In the doc, Gibney contrasts a 2016 video released by Tesla that depicts the vehicle as fully self-driving with dash-cam footage from a deadly 2019 crash in which a car using Tesla's Autopilot feature killed one and seriously injured another in Key Largo, Florida.

After a Russian hacker was able to retrieve key crash data Tesla had said it could not access (yes, really), a jury ruled that Tesla was partially liable for the crash and responsible for $243 million in punitive and compensatory damages. Tesla is appealing.

While the story has been reported before by outlets including Business Insider, its retelling to a larger audience in Gibney's doc isn't going to improve perception of the Tesla brand.

The 'Godfather of AI' says he's worried Musk could rig an election

Trump and Musk have described DOGE as a way to overhaul the federal government and slash spending. Tech reporters from Wired and The Wall Street Journal tell Gibney that Musk's time working on DOGE also gave him access to every American's personal information.

Geoffrey Hinton, the "Godfather of AI" and a friend-turned-frenemy of Musk's, says he thinks Musk is up to something nefarious. He tells Gibney in the documentary that he believes Musk will use that information to corrupt the upcoming midterm elections.

"If you wanted to corrupt the midterm elections and you wanted to use AI, all you needed to do was get detailed information on US citizens," Hinton says in "Musk." "And what DOGE did looked like just what you would do."

Hinton does not elaborate further, but Gibney wonders in a voiceover: Is Musk "trying to connect us or control us?"

A former flame reveals the NDA terms she declined and Musk's desire for a 'legion of children'

The documentary also delves into Musk's personal life, specifically his many children, 14 of whom are publicly known. While Musk's first wife, Justine, appears in the doc, the real star is influencer Ashley St. Clair, who gave birth to one of his sons in 2024.

St. Clair says in the doc that the two connected after Musk began following her on social media and would message her saying she should have more children. St. Clair says in the doc that once their relationship went south and after giving birth to Musk's child, she was offered $15 million up front and $100,000 per month over 21 years if she signed an NDA. She refused.

St. Clair also recalled that one night she was with Musk in bed and he was listening to a podcast about Kublai Khan, a descendant of Genghis Khan who had at least 47 children.

She also said that Musk once texted her that he needed a "legion of children before the civil war."

St. Clair claims she wasn't the only one Musk reached out to on social media in hopes of procreating.

It's a "Gatling gun of sperm on his DMs," she told Gibney.

On Wednesday, a day after the movie's world premiere, Musk disputed the terms of St. Clair's NDA, commenting on X that St. Clair "was never offered that and has a history of making false claims." St. Clair did not respond to a request for comment.

Musk also went on X to comment on the documentary as a whole.

"Gibney just assembled a hit list of people who either have an axe to grind or don't even know me (but still have an axe to grind). He has ZERO integrity. Horrible human," Musk wrote.

"Musk" opens in theaters October 16.