Top Democrats call for curbs on AI development after midterms: ‘National moratorium on data centers now’

After a big victory in the US midterm elections on Tuesday, some Democrats are already signaling they want to tackle artificial construction, particularly data centers.

In an article on Sanders, who is caucusing with Democrats, said the message to political leaders is clear.

“National moratorium on data centers now,” he wrote in his message. “Americans don’t want Big Tech oligarchs destroying the environment, killing jobs, and threatening the future of humanity.”

In another article on Representative Greg Casar, Democrat of Texas, chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, amplified the message and declared: “Yes!

According to the CNBC Voter Poll, 56% of voters said AI and data centers were a crucial or major factor in their decision at the polls. Of these voters, 65% said they voted for a Democratic candidate for Congress.

Stocks linked to the development of artificial intelligence fell slightly on Wednesday following the election, but selling intensified on Thursday as investors worried that Democratic victories would have a real impact on data center construction. Chip stocks led the decline. THE iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) fell nearly 9% on Tuesday. Nvidia fell 8%, while Advanced Micro Devices fell more than 14%.

Democrats who flipped critical races Tuesday also pointed the finger at big tech companies and data centers.

South Carolina Democrat Annie Andrews, who flipped a state Senate seat on Tuesday, launched a website during the campaign that called her opponent — Sen. Darline Graham — “data center Darline.”

In his victory speech Tuesday, Andrews said voters chose a South Carolina “where decisions about communities are made by the people who live in our communities, not the billionaires or data center companies in Washington, D.C..”

Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown, who returns to the Senate after defeating Republican incumbent Sen. Jon Husted on Tuesday, said in his victory speech: “I don’t work for data centers.”

Democratic governors also attacked data centers in their victory speeches. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who signed an executive order in August to slow data center development, said big tech companies should not determine residents’ futures. “Instead, it’s the people in our local communities who have the final say,” he said.

Texas is perhaps the most important for data center development, as it is home to 27% of planned data center capacity, according to Wells Fargo.

Gina Hinojosa, the Democrat who ousted Republican incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott, did not directly address data centers in her victory speech, although they played a key role in her campaign.

“When I am governor, I will place a moratorium, a ban, on all data center approvals until laws can be passed by the legislature to protect Texans,” she said in a video posted to her X in late October. “This is one fight. Is this going to be a Texas by and for the people, or is this the world of billionaires and we just live here? Data centers are part of this fight.”