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BT Ben Thompson Ben Thompson Writes Stratechery, a subscription newsletter analyzing the business strategy behind tech and media companies, and has built a reputation for framing how platfo...

“You're trying to refute facts when what you're actually dealing with is sentiment. And it's the sentiment that is attracting stories. And that's why people will discard, okay, fine, that's not true. And they'll find another reason to oppose the data centers. They just oppose the data centers.”

Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson · Tech Strategy & Big Tech · November 2026

“You're trying to refute facts when what you're actually dealing with is sentiment. And it's the sentiment that is attracting stories. And that's why people will discard, okay, fine, that's not true. And they'll find another reason to oppose the data centers. They just oppose the data centers.” — Ben Thompson, Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson

Context

Andrew Sharp had just said some of the misinformation about data centers is easy to disprove. Ben Thompson argues the industry keeps fighting the details when the real driver is a broad distrust of technology and AI, days after voters backed local data center restrictions.

Listen to the episode → More from Ben Thompson → More Tech Strategy & Big Tech quotes →

Transcript

Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson Around 10:26 into the episode
Ben Thompson

And, but you understand why people come up with the people are stupid because some of the fake news stuff.

Andrew Sharp

Well, some of the misinformation surrounding Against Data Centers, is just easily disproven or refers to the way data centers operate. But the problem is you're

Ben Thompson

operating on the wrong level, right? You're trying to refute facts when what you're actually dealing with is sentiment. And it's the sentiment that is attracting stories. And that's why people will discard, okay, fine, that's not true. And they'll find another reason to oppose the data centers. They just oppose the data centers. And why do they oppose the data centers? Like there is just a fundamental distrust and unease, I think, with technology generally and certainly with AI specifically. That's why I do think this isn't, even though it was all about data centers and people are talking about the environmental costs and electricity. I think people

Andrew Sharp

are just voting against this version of the future.

Ben Thompson

Yes. Yeah. And why not, given the version of the future that's been sold? And this is where you go back to globalization. People didn't have a vote. Right. The factories just closed. In this case, once people had a vote, they're not too happy about it.

Andrew Sharp

Absolutely. I mean, if we go back to the spring, I said then I still feel now it's an understandable human response given what AI portends, the way it's been marketed, and the ongoing centralization of wealth among a handful of big tech companies. People just want a chance to stick their finger in…

Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.

More from Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson

“Everyone thinking about AI jumps to the final state where intelligence is a commodity… The analysis in a market defined by scarcity versus a market defined by abundance is fundamentally different. Completely flips. And I think the time defined by scarcity has probably been elongated.” — Ben Thompson, Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson “The presumed backstop for all data center opposition has always been, we'll just build it in Texas.” — Ben Thompson, Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson