Texas: Future governor announces more protection against AI data centers

In Texas, Democratic election winner Gina Hinojosa has reiterated her tough stance against the tech industry. “We will pass laws to protect Texans and we must stop what we are doing with data centers until we have those protections in place,” said the future governor. She called for local politicians to have a say in whether and how data centers operate in their area. Hinojosa had already announced a halt to construction of data centers during the election campaign.

Following the Democrats' victory in the US midterms, AI and chip stocks have plummeted. Investors fear that the Democrats' success could herald the end of the AI ​​boom. Texas is the second largest state in the United States and has become a leading global data center region. The US government of Republican President Donald Trump has declared the expansion of the sometimes gigantic facilities a national priority. However, resistance is growing among the population due to high electricity and water consumption as well as possible environmental damage.

Now Hinojosa says Texas can continue to work well with Musk. However, this must happen on the terms of their government. After her election victory, she also commented on outgoing Governor Abott and SpaceX's discussions about selling the Boca Chica State Park nature reserve. She asked the Texas Nature Conservancy not to make any decisions during the current transition. The company initially did not comment when asked by the Reuters news agency.

Gina Hinojosa is even more important for Texas than the future Senator James Talarico: The new governor wants to break the network between Republicans and oligarchs. A lot could change, especially for Elon Musk.