Big Tech claims voters’ AI backlash is “anti-Trump” not “anti-tech”
Tech industry in denial as US overwhelmingly votes to restrict AI, data centers.
Tech industry in denial as US overwhelmingly votes to restrict AI, data centers.
The short version
- Donald Trump’s big, rapid American AI buildout now faces a major slowdown as voters in yesterday’s elections overwhelmingly supported candidates and measures that favored increasing restrictions on AI and data centers nationwide.
- In addition to increasing regulations on data centers, voters also backed anti-AI candidates, electing officials vowing crackdowns in key states building out the most data center capacity in the US.
- Most notably, Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa won the Texas governor race that Axios reported would fundamentally scramble the math on Trump’s AI buildout.
What happened
According to Bloomberg , Hinojosa’s election has developers facing down the “worst-case scenario.” Texas is the epicenter of the AI boom, Axios noted, and was expected to account for more than 41 percent of added data center capacity in 2028. Democrats won governor races in the next three biggest states previously wooing data center developers—Arizona, Georgia, and Ohio.
Why it matters
Overall, Axios projected that “nearly two-thirds of 2028 data center capacity” could face similar delays as Hinojosa threatens in Texas.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.