AI data centers in the U.S. face a brake after the Democratic victory

The expansion of artificial intelligence data centers in the United States faces a new obstacle after the Democratic victory in Tuesday's elections, with moratoriums and stricter regulations promised by the new governors in several key states, according to Bloomberg.

In Texas, where developers already faced a suspension of approvals under Republican Governor Greg Abbott, Democrat Gina Hinojosa —elected on Tuesday as the state's first Democratic governor in more than three decades— promised an immediate moratorium. Hinojosa called Abbott's promises to rein in operators «nothing more than an election-year stunt» and accused developers of «raising our utility bills and draining our water resources».

Hinojosa's victory immediately exposes about 13 gigawatts of data center capacity in Texas, enough to power some 10 million homes at once, according to the firm GLJ Research. Texas accounts for nearly 30% of the U.S. data center capacity scheduled to come online in 2028, the largest share of any state, according to the firm SemiAnalysis.

The brake is not limited to Texas. In Ohio, Democrat Amy Acton defeated businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and called for a conditional moratorium; in Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman elected governor and also asked for a pause on building new centers; and in Pennsylvania, Democrat Josh Shapiro, who once courted these projects, has changed course and now criticizes speculative developments. The firm Jefferies warned that a Hinojosa victory would trigger an immediate statewide pause and downgrade its Texas risk rating from level 3 to level 4.

Markets have already reacted: CoreWeave, a data center specialist, fell more than 5% on Wednesday and is down 25% this year, while Nvidia posted a slight decline. By contrast, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet rose when the New York stock exchanges opened, on a day when the Dow Jones gained 3.03% after the Democratic victory.

Analysts warn that even without statewide moratoriums, AI development will keep hitting obstacles: slower permits and more concessions from developers. New York Governor Kathy Hochul already decreed a similar pause on data center construction in July.

This story follows up on Hinojosa's victory in Texas, published by A Lo Claro on Tuesday night: Gina Hinojosa wins the Texas governorship.

Photo: Bloomberg

Source: Bloomberg Línea