After ChatGPT launched in late 2022, tech companies raced to open data centers at unprecedented rates, pouring billions of dollars into AI hubs in states like Texas and Ohio. Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, and others did so even as polling showed the centers were highly unpopular among a large swath of the U.S. population.
On Tuesday, the issue came to a decisive tipping point. U.S. voters delivered an overwhelming victory for Democratic candidates throughout the country that will upend the halls of power in Washington and data center hotbeds like Texas. While tech companies have established years-long plans to keep opening the centers, and are regularly plugging more online, they will be met with new state and national political leaders whose mandate is to slow down the unpopular facilities. They also now face a wave of voter rejection on numerous projects across the U.S.
