While the Trump administration has been all-in on AI, or “super intelligence” as the president likes to call it, many leading Democrats tapped into grassroots concerns about the expansion of data centres and their impact on local communities.
These were largely focused on the facilities’ high consumption of water and electricity, which many feared would push up their household bills – as well as the noise, use of land, and general disruption associated with them.
A Gallup poll published in May showed 71% of Americans would oppose the building of a data centre in their community. The figure for a nuclear power station was 53%.
James Talarico, who won the Senate race in once staunchly Republican Texas, was one of those to respond to this scepticism.
“While we want to protect America’s leadership in artificial intelligence, we are still grappling with how it will affect everything from how we work to how our children learn,” he said.
“We must protect Americans and establish clear, consistent laws for businesses.”
With control of both houses of Congress, Democrats are now expected to challenge the president’s technology agenda more vigorously, while introducing legislation which could curb the expansion of the industry.
Texas’ Democratic governor-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned against data centres, pledging a moratorium on the construction of new facilities.
Hinojosa’s win could present opposition to tech multi-billionaire Elon Musk, who has moved large parts of SpaceX and Tesla’s operations to the state, for years a Republican stronghold.
The Tesla boss had spent nearly $450m to back Republican campaigns in the midterms.
