• Analysis
Democrats renew calls for a datacenter pause after midterm wins
Several newly elected Democrats and Senator Bernie Sanders renewed calls for a datacenter pause in the days after the US midterm elections, with Sanders posting a demand for an immediate national halt on X this week.
The midterm results have given new force to demands to slow the big tech datacenter buildout. Several newly elected Democrats and Senator Bernie Sanders renewed calls for datacenter moratoriums in the days after the US midterm elections.
Sanders demands a national moratorium
Sanders went furthest, posting a call for an immediate national datacenter moratorium on X this week. On Wednesday he wrote:
Americans don't want Big Tech oligarchs wrecking the environment, gutting jobs and threatening humanity's future
His post came as the Democratic victory, buoyed in part by backlash to the tech industry, added momentum to efforts to slow the multi-trillion-dollar datacenter buildout.
Newly elected Democrats join the calls
Incoming and newly elected lawmakers echoed the senator's demand, each in their own terms:
- •Representative Yassamin Ansari of Arizona - where Elon Musk's SpaceX has proposed a datacenter project spanning more than 700 acres - posted on X that a pause on advanced AI development, regulation of the industry and a ban on artificial superintelligence should top the Democratic agenda on day 1.
- •New Hampshire Senator-elect Chris Pappas praised constituents for opposing big data centers that harm communities.
- •New Mexico congressman Gabe Vasquez said the time is now to stop the AI billionaire class from forcing datacenters into the community.
- •Ohio Senator-elect Sherrod Brown said to applause: "I do not work for data centers," adding, "I work for you. I work for Ohio."
Incoming governors pledge halts
The push reaches past Congress. Newly elected governors in several states key to the datacenter buildout, among them Texas and Georgia, have also called for moratoriums. Incoming Texas Governor Gina Hinojosa pledged to halt new datacenter projects until new protections are in place.
She said this week on CNN that there are no rules and laws to protect Texans and that Texans are being taken advantage of.
Ansari and Musk clash online
Musk, who spent nearly half a billion dollars backing Republican candidates and attacking Democrats on his platform, mocked Ansari's post in a retweet. The two sparred online, with Ansari forecasting congressional hearings and telling him: "See you soon."
Reaction to the results split. Meta platforms president Dina Powell McCormick told the Wall Street Journal it is going to be harder to build datacenters after the vote. White House National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett argued to CNBC that the ballot initiatives largely would not affect existing projects and that construction would continue.
