Americans love AI. They don't want the data centers that power it.

Anti-data center protests have sprouted up across the country.

Getty Images More than half of Americans used an AI chatbot in July, according to new data from Morning Consult.

Yet 70% of Americans oppose building AI data centers in their communities, according to another recent poll.

This story originally appeared on POLITICO and is courtesy of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network.

They're ugly.

They're noisy.

They sprawl across the landscape.

They gobble up energy and water.

Americans hate data centers and don't trust the Big Tech companies that need them.

But they love using the artificial intelligence models they power.

More than half of Americans used an AI chatbot in July, according to new data from Morning Consult .

And it's not just experimenting — Americans are increasingly using AI chatbots multiple times a week.

Yet 70 percent of Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their community, according to a Gallup poll from May .

The disconnect is emerging as one of the central political challenges surrounding the AI boom — and it's one that politicians from both parties must navigate as the midterms approach.