Tuesday’s elections produced a wave of victories for candidates and ballot measures seeking to rein in the data center construction craze fueling the $10 trillion AI boom, with results reported as of Wednesday morning showing dozens of local moratoriums approved and Republicans ousted in several states over AI policy votes.
\n\nAxios reports that the biggest upset came in Texas, where Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa won the governor’s race after campaigning on keeping a moratorium on new data center construction in place until the legislature addresses the technology’s strain on water, electricity, air quality and property rights. Texas’s legislative session does not end until mid-2027, and the state accounts for 41 percent of the new U.S. data center capacity research firm SemiAnalysis expects to come online in 2028. Most of the data centers expected to open in 2027 are already under construction, but a hold lasting more than six months would cause extended delays across the state.
\n\nTexas was not alone. Democrats also won in the three states that rank just behind it in projected data center capacity: Ohio, Georgia and Arizona. The winning candidates in Ohio and Georgia both favor restrictive policies toward data center development. Taken together, nearly two-thirds…
Original source: https://www.breitbart.com/economy/
