Nasdaq Falls as Democrats Target Data-Center Growth — SkimNews
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- Nasdaq bore Thursday’s most dramatic US stock-market declines after Democrats won full control of Congress; the sell-off appeared triggered by the midterm results and investors’ fears of tighter AI regulation.
- ChatGPT’s late-2022 release is widely seen as igniting the AI gold rush; Goldman Sachs expects AI investment to reach $1 trillion in 2026 as capital flows into chips, networking, data centres and energy.
- Gallup reported in May that 71% of Americans would oppose a data centre in their community, compared with 53% for a nuclear power station.
- James Talarico, who won the Senate race in once-staunchly-Republican Texas, backed clear, consistent AI laws while warning about effects on work and children’s learning.
- Gina Hinojosa campaigned against data centres and pledged a moratorium on new facilities as Texas’s Democratic governor-elect; her win could put her in opposition to Elon Musk after Tesla and SpaceX moved operations into the state.
- Tudor Brown said AI valuations had been inflated by expectations of “almost infinite AI growth,” described the market reaction as a panic and argued the sector has a natural floor with companies still making money.
- Nandini Roy Choudhury said an immediate widespread tech-stock recovery is unlikely and that traders will be more selective, favoring firms with stronger balance sheets as they assess possible curbs on data-centre construction, energy consumption and AI deployment.
Why it matters: Democrats’ control of Congress, alongside 71% opposition to a local data centre, makes construction and energy use direct political issues for data-center developers and for Elon Musk’s Texas operations. With $1 trillion in AI investment projected for 2026, Nandini Roy Choudhury sees no immediate broad tech rebound and expects traders to favor firms with stronger balance sheets.
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