Governor Gretchen Whitmer is drawing criticism for appearing with OpenAI Ceo Sam Altman at an event last week for a massive data center project near Saline.
Whitmer says the facility will bring in millions of dollars to the state along with jobs and other investments, but many Michiganders say data centers have no place here.
Statewide political reporter for Gongwer Michigan Lily Guiney has been keeping an eye on what people are saying about the governor’s openness to data centers, and if pushback from online commenters could have consequences offline.
"The way that elected officials seem to view it is as a form of connection, as a form of how they interact with their constituents," she explained. "What we see on the flip side of it here is it's viewed very much as a way to voice your opinion to your elected official when you feel like you're not being heard."
But it's tricky to translate views, comments and shares into usable data to understand voters and political trends.
"As much power as social media has in today's world, there's still very little that we can glean from what social media tells us about the actual voting habits of the American public," Guiney said.
She says in the case of this data center event, the overwhelming negative comments on Whitmer's social media posts can be seen as an indicator of sentiment, and it's likely Whitmer's office is tracking that response.
"We can't say for sure, but we can say that when there's a reaction as fierce as this and with such volume as this, that it certainly means people are feeling some type of way."
Still, according to a poll from the Glengariff Group released late last month, Whitmer's approval rating as she rounds out her last year in office is at around 52%, making her one of the most popular governors in the country.
Whitmer has not responded officially to this criticism, but has recently reiterated that she has no plans to sign a moratorium on data center developments if one comes across her desk. Guiney says there's another disconnect between politicians like Whitmer and residents on this Saline project.
"She believes that the agreement between the state and OpenAI should be looked to, actually by lawmakers and codified. The thing is, though, is that agreement has not been made public," Guiney said.
"I think that's where kind of this social media pushback comes from, is folks are being told, you know, this is all really great, this is the gold standard of data center development, right, but they don't know what they're being told is is so great, and they don't have anything that they can point to in terms of these contracts."
Guiney says it's not clear yet where the already deeply divided state Legislature stands on data center legislation as a whole, but it's likely lawmakers will continue to introduce measures to get the ball rolling on potential regulations.
Interview Highlights
On how politicians and citizens use social media to interact
The way that elected officials seem to view it is as a form of connection, as a form of how they interact with their constituents. And I think what we see on the flip side of it here is it's viewed very much as a way to voice your opinion to your elected official when you feel like you're not being heard. But I think what is important to note is that experts we talked to for our deep dive into the chronically online politician is what we tagged that story as, was that for as much power as social media has in today's world, there's still very little that we can glean from what social media tells us about the actual voting habits of the American public.
On what we can glean from negative feedback online about the Saline event
Like we can see what's going on online and take it to be somewhat of an indicator for how people are feeling and thinking in the real world. It's really hard to quantify in terms of hard data. The simple answer is we can't say for sure, but we can say that when there's a reaction as fierce as this and with such volume as this, that it certainly means people are feeling some type of way. And I think that the governor's office, I'd be very surprised if there wasn't someone in whoever controls the social media accounts might be looking at it and saying all right, this is something that we want to make a note of, this is something that in whatever form or fashion, we're going to need to catalog and formulate a response to.
On where the state Legislature stands on data center regulations
I think the lines between who is pro-data center and who is wishy-washy on it are nebulous right now. You've got a faction of lawmakers who have been outspoken on the issue in the negative, but I'd say there's a larger group of people who just haven't really taken a stance yet, which doesn't mean that there's not going to be people who come out against it, and that group of people who might vote for a moratorium won't get larger ... So, I think you'd be hard pressed to see this come to pass, but I think we will see movement on data center legislation in the coming months, whatever form it takes.
Interview Transcript
Sophia Saliby: Governor Gretchen Whitmer is drawing criticism for appearing with OpenAI Ceo Sam Altman at an event last week for a massive data center project near Saline in Washtenaw County.
Whitmer says the facility will bring in millions of dollars to the state along with jobs and other investments, but many Michiganders say data centers have no place here.
Statewide political reporter for Gongwer Michigan Lily Guiney has been keeping an eye on what people are saying about the governor’s openness to data centers, and she joins me now to talk about it. Thanks for being here.
Lily Guiney: Thanks for having me, Sophia.
Saliby: So, you previously explored how elected officials use social media and how that can impact how voters perceive them. What did you find there?
Guiney: For Gongwer's 2025 Newsmaker of the Year story, we posed the question, you know, is it more newsworthy how our elected officials act online, maybe, than how they act at all? And what we kind of found as we were talking to folks, talking to experts on social media use in politics, and talking to politicians themselves, is that the way that elected officials seem to view it is as a form of connection, as a form of how they interact with their constituents.
And I think what we see on the flip side of it here is it's viewed very much as a way to voice your opinion to your elected official when you feel like you're not being heard. But I think what is important to note is that experts we talked to for our deep dive into the chronically online politician is what we tagged that story as, was that for as much power as social media has in today's world, there's still very little that we can glean from what social media tells us about the actual voting habits of the American public.
There's still a lot of statistical, and, like, from a research standpoint, very, very little stable evidence out there in terms of data that experts are able to get out of social media behavior, like commenting or liking and following, that can tell us certainly how people feel one way or another about a politician, or about, you know, how people are going to vote. It's a really uncertain science.
Saliby: So, what have you noticed about Governor Whitmer's social media posts, and the response they're getting in this past week since this event in Saline?
Guiney: Yeah, it's been good and well negative. It's not been good for the governor. We've seen every post she's made on Instagram get hundreds of comments, I think they've been pretty much all negative.
One of the events she did last week afterwards was at a smoothie store in Grand Rapids, and the smoothie store even posted a disclaimer in its own comments saying how it wished she would change her policy on data centers after posting a photo with her.
Saliby: You talked about this earlier, but, you know, the internet can be a bubble. What we see online isn't always representative of the greater state. Is that what's happening here with data centers, and could there be greater political consequences for this in the real world?
Guiney: Yes, and no, right? Like we can see what's going on online and take it to be somewhat of an indicator for how people are feeling and thinking in the real world. It's really hard to quantify in terms of hard data. The simple answer is we can't say for sure, but we can say that when there's a reaction as fierce as this and with such volume as this, that it certainly means people are feeling some type of way.
And I think that the governor's office, I'd be very surprised if there wasn't someone in whoever controls the social media accounts might be looking at it and saying all right, this is something that we want to make a note of, this is something that in whatever form or fashion, we're going to need to catalog and formulate a response to.
Saliby: So, has there been a response to this kind of overwhelming criticism online in the past week?
Guiney: I wouldn't say an organic response. She's been asked by members of the media at a couple appearances, and she has given sort of a non-response response, I would say. The response has been, well, we're going to do data centers right here in Michigan. Michigan should be looked to as sort of a national example of how to do data centers right.
She was asked last week, you know, would she support legislation that was introduced by a senator last week to do a one year moratorium on data center development in the state. She said she would not sign that if it came to her desk. And then, she went on to say that she believes that the agreement between the state and OpenAI should be looked to, actually by lawmakers and codified. The thing is, though, is that agreement has not been made public.
And I think that's where kind of this social media pushback comes from, is folks are being told, you know, this is all really great, this is the gold standard of data center development, right, but they don't know what they're being told is is so great, and they don't have anything that they can point to in terms of these contracts.
The same thing with the DTE version of this, when the Public Service Commission decided to go ex parte, these contracts are all being kept away from the public, and I think that's where the source of the pushback kind of comes from, and people feel this is all being kept behind closed doors, so you start to see more and more of that online groundswell of criticism.
Saliby: To end our conversation, we've talked about the governor and her kind of feelings on data centers. The legislature is pretty stratified. Is there enough political will in between lawmakers to pass a moratorium or even overrule a veto from the governor on this?
Guiney: As it stands right now, no. I think the lines between who is pro-data center and who is wishy-washy on it are nebulous right now. You've got a faction of lawmakers who have been outspoken on the issue in the negative, but I'd say there's a larger group of people who just haven't really taken a stance yet, which doesn't mean that there's not going to be people who come out against it, and that group of people who might vote for a moratorium won't get larger.
But I think you'd be hard pressed to see people speak out against the governor in this situation, because the governor is still, despite this, riding a really high approval rating, and for an outgoing governor, she holds a lot of political capital in a way that we haven't seen outgoing governors do for decades. So, I think you'd be hard pressed to see this come to pass, but I think we will see movement on data center legislation in the coming months, whatever form it takes.
Saliby: Lily Guinney is a reporter for Gongwer Michigan. Thank you for joining us.
Guiney: Thanks.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
