Dan Ives: Democrats' win slows 800 to 1,000 AI data centers

The Democratic sweep in the midterms, including wins in the House and Senate and flipped governorships, immediately moved AI-linked stocks. SpaceX and Tesla fell 4% Wednesday before trimming losses, while CoreWeave, IREN, and Vertiv also traded lower. Dan Ives framed the result as a legislative obstacle, writing that there is no way to sugarcoat that Democrats taking control, especially over the Senate, will create major hurdles for AI and tech legislation.

Ives tied those hurdles directly to the pace of data center construction, estimating that 800 to 1,000 planned AI data centers across the US could be slowed. He identified Texas as the biggest worry for tech investors, noting around 25%-30% of data center gigawatts and capacity will come from there, and that Democrat Gina Hinojosa's surprise win over incumbent Greg Abbott changes the outlook. Ives said Hinojosa is a known anti-data center politician and negative on the AI buildout.

For Texas-based SpaceX, which has been building AI infrastructure and taking steps toward a potential merger with Tesla, the political shift puts it front and center. Ives said SpaceX and Musk are clearly caught in this spiderweb, and that Big Tech will need to embrace the new political landscape. Musk's own comment about space-based data centers suggests he is already weighing alternatives, though the body does not detail any concrete plans.