Why are data centers at the center of the AI debate? How are influencers evolving in the world of AI? And does the acquisition of Everlane by Shein signal the death of the ethical brand?
Below is our June 2026 cultural signal scan: three cultural and consumer trends on our radar this month and their impact on people. By scanning the headlines, keeping tabs on social media conversations and tuning into the zeitgeist, we connect the dots between our consumer trends and the wider world, so you can make sense of what’s happening now and what it means for you.
Key insights
- People across the political aisle are united in their attitudes toward data centers. 69% of Americans say the costs of data centers outweigh the benefits, with 62% of registered Republican voters, 76% of Democrats and 73% of Independents taking this view.
- Online influence is becoming both more automated and more human-led. Some creators are exploring digital twins that replicate their appearance, voice or behavior to generate multilingual content, appear in virtual livestreams or extend their reach.
- Acquisitions and pivots from Everlane, Allbirds and more signal a new era for brand positioning. In May, ultra-fast fashion brand Shein agreed to acquire Everlane for $100 million, which is being seen by some as the death knell for ethical fashion.
1. Data center disapproval: Polarized consumers unite around AI stance
A rapidly growing industry faces a rapidly growing reputation crisis
Data centers are shaping up to be one of the most consequential talking points of the AI era. Google Trends data highlights the extent to which they are on consumers’ minds.
Data center backlash is part of a wider anti-AI revolution
From college students to farmers, there’s a rising tide of anti-AI sentiment around the world. For example, a number of pro-AI graduation and commencement speeches in the US have been booed by students – including one by Google’s Chief Executive Eric Schmidt at the University of Arizona, where he told students that the “technological transformation” due to AI development will be “larger, faster and more consequential than what came before”.
Interestingly, opposition to AI data centers may be one of the most bipartisan stances in a polarized world, with both the left and the right in the US largely opposing them. 69% nationally say the costs of data centers outweigh the benefits, with 62% of registered Republican voters, 76% of Democrats and 73% of Independents taking this view.
Grassroots efforts, political campaigns and anti-data center legislation highlight this growing bipartisan view. On the left side of the political spectrum, Bernie Sanders has called for a “complete moratorium” on the construction of data centers. Meanwhile, the leader of a rural township in Virginia resigned after receiving death threats over the construction of an Oracle and OpenAI data center. And Microsoft canceled a 244-acre data center in the swing state Wisconsin after locals signed a petition opposing the re-zoning of the land. Opposition is also strong in GOP strongholds; a county in South Carolina passed a six-month moratorium on data center construction, while local opposition deterred the construction of a data center in Georgia.
The US has the most data centers worldwide, so it makes sense that much of the backlash is coming from there. However, bans and moratoriums are multiplying across the world: for instance, both Google and Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar projects in India are facing backlash from local farmers, a strong contrast to the government’s tax relief policies on data centers.
Water usage has become an important flashpoint in the data center debate
Concerns about global water bankruptcy are also growing. A low-income neighborhood outside Mumbai, for instance, which has contended with water shortages for decades, is now surrounded by data centers that have continuous access to water. Water-intensive data centers are also cropping up in water-stressed parts of Spain, Brazil and France.
More recently, Erin Brokovich, the American environmental activist who famously built a case against PG&E over groundwater contamination, launched an initiative that gives people a platform to voice concerns about AI data centers in their communities. Brokovich’s website also features a crowdsourced map of existing, upcoming and canceled data centers across the US.
And US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used a congressional hearing to highlight the worsening quality of water in a county in Georgia due to data center construction.
Tech leaders aim for the skies and the seas
All this, along with the growing fear that invention is far outpacing infrastructure, is prompting some tech leaders to look further afield for construction. Peter Thiel, the former PayPal CEO and co-founder of Palantir, has invested $140 million into Panthalassa, a startup looking to build a fleet of floating data centers in the northern Pacific Ocean. And China is already home to the world’s first underwater data center powered by offshore wind.
Meanwhile, SpaceX and Google are set to strike a deal to launch data centers into orbit, with Anthropic already expressing interest. And Cowboy Space, which was founded to develop space-based solar power, has raised $275 million to build rockets that would serve as data centers once in low Earth orbit (LEO).
Tech leaders hope that space-based data centers overcome the constraints of Earth in terms of resources. They may also prove to be cheaper, although questions around long-term efficacy and commercial deployment remain.
Data centers are not all negative
While data centers are commonly referred to as “water-guzzling”, some commentators are pointing out that almost all forms of industrial production use substantial amounts of water. What’s more, not all data centers are created equal: a number of them use closed-loop cooling systems to ensure water is not “lost” or evaporated.
It’s also important to put the water consumption of data centers into perspective. AI researcher Andy Malsey has calculated that, as of 2023, data centers use 0.04% of America’s fresh water. In comparison, US golf courses use 33 times as much water.
And despite the booing among students who feel AI is threatening their chances at having a stable job, data centers can also create jobs and lead to economic booms. This is a phenomenon that is unfolding in Australia, where companies spent AUD 8.7 billion (c. $6.2 billion) on building data centers in the first three months of 2026. Over the same period, private investment went up by 6.5%, the highest level since 2014. Southeast Asia is also undergoing a massive data center boom that’s benefiting the economy. Malaysia and Indonesia, for instance, are being viewed as investor havens.
Meanwhile, even as the data center boom causes energy demands to rise, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will lead to more greenhouse gases. In late May, major AI players including Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft announced a partnership with nonprofit investor Elemental Impact to scale clean-tech solutions for data
Why it matters
- As consumers face rising living costs, economic instability, job insecurity and broader existential anxieties, there is growing scrutiny around whether technological progress is genuinely improving quality of life, or merely benefiting a few at the top. Moreover, with Resource Scarcity and Conflict becoming a growing Environmental Challenge, the development of Artificial Intelligence via water-intensive data centers is increasingly viewed as Technological Progress at the cost of planetary wellbeing. In this context, brands that solely prioritize AI investment over consumer wellbeing are met with reputational risk. To keep consumers onside, brands should demonstrate social responsibility, transparency and a commitment to supporting people through periods of uncertainty, tapping into our trend Cool to be Kind.
- Involving communities affected by AI infrastructure expansion will become increasingly important as public concern grows. One interesting example is XFRA, a distributed data center solution that installs AI compute nodes directly onto newly built homes. Not only will this assuage concerns about giant, energy-intensive data centers being built in local neighborhoods, but there’s a financial incentive too: homeowners who host the nodes are compensated based on how much compute and energy the network uses.
2. The evolving role of human creators in an age of engineered hype
AI influencers and digital twins can make influence more scalable
Influencer culture is entering a new phase. As AI-generated creators, digital twins and clipping networks make influence more scalable, brands and consumers are also placing greater value on signals that still feel distinctly human. As a result, influencer marketing is splintering, with growing automation and scale on one side and a renewed premium on curation and community on the other.
AI-generated influencers and digital twins of creators are making it easier for brands and talent to scale output and operate across markets without the usual human constraints. AI influencers are fully synthetic personalities designed to act like creators online, often posting fashion, beauty or lifestyle content.
Established virtual figures such as Lil Miquela have shown that non-human personalities can attract large audiences and commercial partnerships, while more recent experiments such as SheerLuxe’s AI influencers have led to backlash from consumers and industry commentators. Some argued that the homogeneity of the avatars’ body types was potentially damaging, while others expressed concern for the human models they are replacing.
Some human creators are also exploring digital twins: AI replicas trained on their face, voice or behavior to generate multilingual content, appear in virtual livestreams or extend their presence without being physically involved in every output.
Higher content volumes coupled with lower production friction make AI influencers and digital twins appealing to both creators and brands. But they also introduce questions around ownership and trust. Will audiences believe hollow recommendations from an entity that cannot physically try or experience products?
Formats are emerging that make influence harder to fake
Some creators are now leaning further into forms of influence that AI struggles to reproduce – collaboration, in-person presence and taste-based guidance.
Influencer squads such as The 4 in the 5 are gaining appeal because they foreground chemistry and spontaneity – qualities that audiences find more interesting to watch but are more difficult to automate convincingly. As synthetic creators become more common, creators and brands may find that influence built around relationships and interpersonal energy feels more credible than solo content.
Creator-led or -hosted events such as run clubs, dog walks, styling sessions and travel experiences show how influence has moved beyond content into IRL participation. These formats deepen loyalty by turning followers into attendees and members, and they give creators something that synthetic competitors cannot easily replicate; physical presence and shared memory. This expands the role of creators to community host, or in fact turns community event leaders into influencers.
As we explore in our trend Escape the Algorithm, as algorithms become more homogenous and easier to game, human-led curation and taste-making are becoming more valuable. One example is the growth of travel advisors: over the last three years there has been a reported 50% increase in those describing themselves as travel agents or advisors on LinkedIn. The rise of influencer-adjacent identities such as travel advisors points to a model where creators monetize their knowledge and access more directly.
Why it matters
- The key question for marketers is which forms of influence will remain effective as consumers become more aware of synthetic content and manufactured hype. AI influencers and digital twins may offer efficiency and scale, but they also carry reputational risks. Consumers are becoming more skeptical of and fatigued by viral moments – and they are getting better at discerning when hype is engineered rather than organic. If your brand is suspected of such tactics, it could undermine trust – boosting demand for proof of credibility. In our report on the use of AI in media we explore consumer attitudes to its use for content creation and the demand for transparency in this arena – read more here.
- This fragmentation also speaks to a growing premium on human taste in an era of algorithmic influence. For brands, the challenge is to decide where automation adds value and where visible humanity remains essential. The impact of authentic, human influencers to cut through will likely be strongest when the focus is on building community, participation and relationships. Our trend Presence-free Living tracks how physical presence has become a more precious resource as it has become scarcer.
3. The end of radical transparency: Was ethical retail a myth all along?
Everlane’s origin story is rooted in Millennial idealism
When Everlane launched onto the fashion scene in 2010, it had one core promise: bringing “radical transparency” to the clothing industry. This meant arming shoppers with detailed supply chain information like the true cost of production and transport, profiles on the factories where garments were manufactured and insight into their labor practices. The brand was built around the premise that conscious consumers wanted to buy according to their personal principles, prioritizing things like sustainability and workers’ rights. For a while, this model resonated, particularly with values-focused Millennials; at its peak in 2020, Everlane was valued at around $600 million.
But in subsequent years, Everlane suffered rising debt and declining sales. And in May 2026, ultra-fast fashion brand Shein agreed to acquire it for $100 million. Founded in China, Shein has a history of attracting controversy connected to labor law violations, environmental destruction and more – the very issues that Everlane purported to fight against. For many Everlane devotees, the acquisition was viewed with skepticism and disappointment. And for some commentators, it is being seen as the death knell for ethical fashion.
Unlikely anti-ethical pivots are impacting other categories too
The Shein/Everlane deal isn’t the only “ethical” retail pivot that has people talking. In April, footwear brand Allbirds – long associated with ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles – pivoted to become an “AI compute infrastructure” business in a move that bewildered fans. News outlets speculated that the brand hoped to manufacture a temporary surge in its value by riding the “AI washing” wave – essentially tacking “AI” onto its name in order to capitalize on AI buzz. And it worked: the rebrand sent shares up 582%. Whether or not Allbirds – now called NewBird AI – will actually become an AI infrastructure company remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, in the food and beverage space, Beyond Meat dropped “meat” from its name, with CEO Ethan Brown citing the “culture wars” around meat alternatives as a reason. Initially founded with a vision of helping to mitigate climate change, the brand now plans to expand into high-protein sodas – viewed as a less “politicized” category.
Why it matters
- The apparent downfall of ethical retail may have less to do with waning consumer demand and more to do with a failure of positioning from the outset. While Everlane and brands like it are built around the idea that there’s a more ethical way to consume, perhaps the truth is less comfortable: that ethical retail at scale is a contradiction in terms. We wrote about this three years ago in our Trending 2024 report, which explored how brands and consumers would be forced to reckon with what it really means to be sustainable – by making sacrifices, buying less and accepting major lifestyle changes.
- Even as some “ethical” brands pivot or flounder, others are doing well. Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s, often as cited as two icons of sustainable retail, remain popular. Both are consistently celebrated not just for their principles but for the consistent quality of their products, underscoring how brands in this space need to make eco-behaviors as effortless and cost-effective as possible in order to succeed. For more, read our trend Simply Sustainable.
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These June 2026 trends are part of a longer report published on Collision, our dynamic trends intelligence platform. Members get access to these reports at the beginning of every month, so they always have a finger on the pulse of consumers and culture. If you’re interested in learning more about Collision and how the platform can make a difference to your business, get in touch today.
