Data center pauses: Democrats push moratoriums after midterms

Senator Bernie Sanders posted a call this week for an immediate national moratorium on data centers. He made the demand on X on Wednesday. In his post, Sanders said Americans don't want what he called Big Tech oligarchs damaging the environment, cutting jobs and threatening humanity's future. The call came days after the US midterm elections, when Democrats won sweeping victories. The pushback against data center construction was one of the most visible issues of the midterms, according to The Guardian. Tech companies need these facilities to power the AI products at the center of their businesses.

Representative Yassamin Ansari of Arizona joined the push. She posted on X on Wednesday that a pause on advanced AI development should top the Democratic agenda on day one. Her post also called for regulation of what she described as an out-of-control industry and a ban on artificial superintelligence. Arizona is a state where Elon Musk's SpaceX has proposed a data center project spanning more than 700 acres. Musk mocked her post in a retweet, and the two sparred. Ansari forecast congressional hearings and told the billionaire, "See you soon."

Opposition to data centers figured heavily in campaigns across the country. Voters passed dozens of local ballot measures aimed at restricting data center projects in their states. The issue also surfaced in Democratic victory speeches. In New Hampshire, Senator-elect Chris Pappas praised constituents for opposing large data centers that he said harm communities.

New Mexico congressman Gabe Vasquez said the time is now to stop the AI billionaire class from forcing data centers into communities. Several winning candidates promised to give local communities decision-making power over AI and data centers. Ohio Senator-elect Sherrod Brown told the crowd he does not work for data centers but for the people of Ohio.

Newly elected governors in several states central to the data center buildout have also called for moratoriums. Those states include Texas and Georgia. Incoming Texas Governor Gina Hinojosa pledged to halt new data center projects until new protections are in place. Her state has become a hotspot for data center construction. The pledges target new projects rather than existing ones. White House National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett told CNBC he was confident construction would continue. He argued the ballot initiatives largely would not affect projects already underway.

The election outcome has alarmed tech investors and executives. Meta platforms president Dina Powell McCormick told the Wall Street Journal it is "going to be harder" to build data centers after the vote. Anxiety after the midterms also helped fuel a large selloff of AI stocks this week. Investors worried about new regulation, including data center pauses. Musk, who spent nearly half a billion dollars backing Republican candidates, joked on election night that data centers in space looked appealing. **The tech industry fears delays to a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure buildout meant to power artificial intelligence.**