Democrats Win Midterms as Voters Reject Local Data Center Projects

Democratic candidates won control of Congress and key governorships after voters backed ballot measures restricting artificial intelligence data centers across the United States.

Voters approved 43 out of 44 local data center moratoriums on Tuesday, while an NBC News poll showed 76 percent of voters opposed data centers in their communities.

The election results threaten to delay the tech industry's multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure expansion and spark tighter federal regulation of artificial intelligence development.

"Voters rejected the status quo, and VCs should take that seriously," said Reid Hoffman, an investor and cofounder of LinkedIn.

Goldman Sachs estimated that election outcomes in Texas and other states could affect nearly half of planned data center capacity in the United States, according to Business Insider.

"Data centers were clearly on the ballot," said Guru Sethupathy, general manager of artificial intelligence governance at Optro.

In Texas, Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa pledged to issue a moratorium on all data center approvals until state lawmakers pass protective legislation.

"Americans don’t want Big Tech oligarchs wrecking the environment, gutting jobs and threatening humanity’s future," said Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator.

Representative Yassamin Ansari of Arizona called for an immediate pause on advanced artificial intelligence development, prompting social media pushback from Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX proposed a 700-acre facility in the state.

"I do not work for data centers," said Sherrod Brown, an Ohio senator-elect.

Dina Powell McCormick, president of platforms at Meta, told The Wall Street Journal that constructing facilities would become more difficult, while The Verge reported that tech executives discussed moving construction overseas.

White House National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett told CNBC that the ballot initiatives would largely not affect existing construction projects.

Concerns over potential regulatory delays triggered a broad selloff in artificial intelligence stocks, leaving tech executives and investors uncertain over how future computing constraints will affect company valuations.