The local vote against data centers
The Democratic victory in the US midterm elections could have significant consequences for the technology sector, particularly for data center construction. In the latest episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, journalists analyzed the election results and the local initiatives that affected artificial intelligence infrastructure.
According to what was reported in the episode, in dozens of local referendums voters rejected data centers. In other cases, even without a direct vote on the issue, politicians were elected who had made limiting these facilities a central point of their campaigns. The case cited is Texas, where newly elected governor Gina Hinojosa promised to address the issue once in office.
Remarks in the podcast
During the discussion, Sean O'Kane noted that Elon Musk does not appear to have achieved significant results despite a half-billion-dollar donation to Republicans, while his companies are headquartered in a state that, according to the journalist, has become strongly Democratic. This is an assessment expressed in the podcast, not an independently verified fact.
Kirsten Korosec clarified that data centers were not the main cause of the so-called Democratic wave, but have become an increasingly salient issue at the local level. According to the journalist, a factor is the way large technology companies have handled permits, often confidentially and with nondisclosure agreements required of elected or appointed officials, without sharing information about the scale of projects in environmentally sensitive areas such as the southwestern United States, where water scarcity is a problem.
OpenAI's response and the rebranding
The podcast cited the case of OpenAI, which, according to the journalists, has changed its approach by publishing what it calls a policy plan for 'compute campus'. The company reportedly announced that it will no longer require nondisclosure agreements and that it will share its plans while operating with less secrecy. The summary offered by the guests is that companies respond when they receive clear regulatory signals.
Anthony Ha emphasized that the new definition of 'compute campus' also serves to revive the image of data centers, which have become a controversial expression. Sean O'Kane commented skeptically on the effectiveness of this rebranding effort, calling it lacking in impact. He also observed that the company, despite saying it does not want to spread itself across secondary activities, continues to move in multiple directions.
The double obstacle: rules and markets
Another element that emerged in the conversation concerns Wall Street's reaction. According to Anthony Ha, investors would not look favorably on the idea of spending huge sums to build new data centers and on computing power. This would create a financial incentive not to build all the planned facilities.
The picture that emerges from the podcast is therefore twofold: on the one hand, new rules and campaign promises could make it harder to obtain permits; on the other, the market might not reward investments in new infrastructure. It remains to be seen how the positions of the elected politicians will translate into practice and what effects OpenAI's announced choices will have.
