“I think the goal for them is to oppose any regulation, any limitation that they see, because once something gets through, it’s hard to reverse it,” said Brendan Steinhauser at the nonprofit The Alliance for Secure AI, which backs more AI industry regulation.
Texans have been pressing their state lawmakers for months to place more restrictions on power-hungry data centers.
But Big Tech has been talking to legislators, too. And as I write today, they brought their checkbooks.
The artificial intelligence industry has poured millions of dollars into the campaigns of Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Republicans in the Texas Legislature who are up for reelection this year. Texas is home to hundreds of data centers in operation or development — second only to Virginia.
“This will be thought of as the AI midterms, because there’s so much money out there,” said Marjorie Connolly, communications director for the Tech Oversight Project, a watchdog group.
It’s a battle that’s brewing across the country as Americans grapple with the growing footprint of warehouse-sized data centers. The facilities consume eye-popping amounts of electricity and water, prompting both Republicans and Democrats to consider ways to limit the impact on constituents’ utility bills.
So far, federal legislation to cope with the downsides of the AI boom has stalled, so the tech industry is focusing its campaign money on statehouses around the country.
“I think the goal for them is to oppose any regulation, any limitation that they see, because once something gets through, it’s hard to reverse it,” said Brendan Steinhauser at the nonprofit The Alliance for Secure AI, which backs more AI industry regulation.
Meta Platforms, which is pumping $65 million into state campaigns, says it wants to avoid a “patchwork” of state AI regulations. Other tech companies who donated to Texas campaigns didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Money, money, money
Big campaign donations are nothing new in Texas. There are no limits on individual campaign contributions, and politicians have historically pulled in large donations from oil producers, real estate developers and utility companies. Abbott started the year with $105 million in his campaign account.
What makes AI developers different is their size — some of the companies are worth trillions of dollars.
Meta, the parent of Facebook, has so far spent $1.3 million on Texas’s primary elections. Elon Musk, who controls the artificial intelligence company xAI, gave $500,000 to a committee that supports Republican state senators. And Joe Gebbia, a co-founder of Airbnb and a board member of Tesla, donated $1 million to Abbott’s campaign last year.
Public pressure
Texas lawmakers are also feeling the heat from a broad swath of constituents — including farmers, rural landowners and homeowners.
The state Legislature doesn’t reconvene until January, but AI will likely be a main topic when lawmakers return to the capitol. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) has said he wants to explore legislation to make sure that the AI boom doesn’t increase the bills of regular electric customers. In the interim, both legislative chambers are holding hearings during the break on the effects of data center construction.
“Everywhere we go, people are asking us about data centers, and costs, and all these things,” state Sen. Phil King, a Republican, said last week during a committee hearing. “We need to be able to tell our constituents it’s getting done.”