Semafor
· collected 2026-10-12 · by J.D. Capelouto
Story summary
Despite growing public criticism of artificial intelligence and the proliferation of data centers across the US, Fox News has maintained a predominantly positive stance on the topic over the past two years. According to a Semafor analysis based on closed caption data from the Internet Archive, more than half of Fox’s references to data centers left viewers with a favorable impression. In contrast, CNN and MS NOW had less than 10% and 5%, respectively, of their mentions conveying similar positivity.
The analysis utilized AI models from Anthropic and OpenAI to score each reference, ensuring an unbiased evaluation. As political backlash against AI intensifies and the issue becomes more prominent ahead of the midterms, Fox’s opinion shows such as My View with Lara Trump, Fox & Friends, and Life, Liberty & Levin emphasize the economic benefits and technological race with China. Meanwhile, CNN and MS NOW present a less favorable view of data centers.
Written for “Data Center Backlash Grow” on 2026-10-12,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Despite increasingly critical media coverage of AI and the spread of data centers across the US, one news network has been painting a more positive picture.
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network → paint → picture
More than half of the references to data centers on Fox News over the last two years would have left viewers with a favorable impression, compared to less than 10% on CNN and 5% on MS NOW, according to a new Semafor analysis of mentions of data centers on each network.
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half → leave → network
The mentions were pulled from closed captions preserved by the Internet Archive, which keeps a digital, searchable library of recorded TV news.
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which → pull → news
A pair of AI models from Anthropic and OpenAI scored each reference on its content, with the network’s name removed.
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name → score → content
Mentions of data centers have, predictably, shot up across all three networks in recent months as political backlash against AI swells and the data centers themselves have become a salient issue ahead of the midterms.
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backlash → shoot → midterms
But Fox’s opinion and morning shows, including My View with Lara Trump, Fox & Friends, and Life, Liberty & Levin, leaned on the promise of AI, economic investment and the race with China, skewing Fox’s coverage more favorably, the analysis showed.
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analysis → include → coverage
In an Aug. 23 monologue that at one point featured a chyron reading “The case for data centers,” Fox host Brian Kilmeade acknowledged “real concerns,” but argued that “saying no to data centers nationwide also means saying no to the tax dollars that can flow into a community. …
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that → feature → community
If Americans don’t build the infrastructure to meet the demand, somebody else will.
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somebody → build → demand
On CNN and MS NOW, the criticism focused as much on the facilities’ political toxicity as on harms like power bills or water use, casting them as unpopular with voters and a liability for politicians who back them heading into the midterms.
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who → focus → midterms
Data centers “are driving up energy costs, sucking up water supplies, wiping out rather than creating jobs,” MS NOW’s Katy Tur said in May.
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Tur → drive → May
“Politicians beware.”
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Politicians → beware → ?
Polling shows that across demographic groups, Americans hold increasingly negative views of data centers: More than half of Americans say data centers are mostly bad for the environment, Pew Research Center found last month, compared with 39% in January.
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Center → show → January
Fox News did not comment for this story.
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News → comment → story
The pro-data center programming on Fox News comes as the right tries to define its positions in an AI-fueled, post-Donald Trump future.
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right → come → future
Fox’s favorable data center coverage mirrors Trump’s position on their growth and the need for AI companies to help fuel the US economy.
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companies → mirror → economy
“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 wrote on Truth Social in August.
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Trump → want → August
“If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame.”
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you → kill → yourselves
represents a faultline within the MAGA coalition that swept Trump back into office.
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that → represent → office
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., have questioned some data centers in their states, while Texas Gov. Greg Abbott seems to have flipped from supporting data centers to looking to slow their growth in his state amid a tougher-than-expected reelection campaign.
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Abbott → question → campaign
Some on the right I have talked to in the last several months worry that Fox News, which Trump watches religiously, and other pro-data center voices are encouraging the president to take positions that are broadly unpopular with his rural and suburban base.
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that → talk → base
“The Big Tech oligarchs, the guys driving AI, did a terrible job,” Steve Bannon, a staunchly anti-AI Trump ally, told the Daily Signal in September.
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Bannon → drive → September
“They came in to try to muscle local communities, and particularly since President Trump’s strongest base is in exurban and rural communities, that’s where they were really the ugliest, and they haven’t made their case, and they particularly haven’t made their case at the local level about the economics of this, and the energy of this, and the water of this, and the manifestation of what these things are going to be used for.”
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things → come → what
Not all of Fox’s data center coverage has been rosy; its tenor grew slightly less favorable in 2026 compared to last year.
“It’s taxing our system way too much on water, agriculture land, or electricity.
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It → grow → water
We’re gonna implode,” the Texas agriculture commissioner said in an interview on a weekend Fox show in August.
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commissioner → go → August
“We just can’t do it.
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We → do → it
The Aporia
