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Now, about a third of America's economic growth is powered by the artificial intelligence boom. And with Democrats winning big in this year's midterm elections, it's likely we'll see changes in the construction of AI data centers We will have laws to protect Texans I am going to suspend new data center construction. Since the reasons are mostly energy-related, one question remains. What will happen to the economy if these New Democrats keep their promise? I think it's best to start right here. Oxford Economics, a market forecasting firm, estimates that the US economy grew by about 2.2% at the start of this
year. If you subtract the AI boom, it's 1.4%, which in total is about a third of US economic growth. And most of this money for AI goes to data centers. The four largest technology companies are expected to spend about $700 billion on AI development in 2026. Currently, there are over 3,000 data centers operating in the US, and over 1,500 new ones are under construction. Analysts expect these costs to exceed a trillion dollars next year. And while our economic growth is tied to data centers, Americans are starting to feel less positive about them. In March 2025, 51% of voters said they would support the construction of data centers in their district. After 9 months, this figure had dropped to 36%,
with many pointing to the associated energy and environmental costs. So in the recent midterm elections, many Democrats ran on a platform of limiting their activities, and many of them won. This also applies to Congress, where Democrats will take control of both chambers in January. But any new law, including those related to data centers, still needs the signature of President Donald Trump. Therefore, bigger changes may come from the states. Congress and the president obviously play a role, but states are the primary overseers of their power grids. And so, you know, whether through legislation or through regulation, you can change how these projects connect to the grids and what
the rules for that will be. Many of these new governors are promising to shut down data centers, and the main reason is the potential additional costs they add to your electricity bill. Approximately 41 % of planned data center capacity is now concentrated in states where a pause is either promised or already in effect. There's Ohio and Georgia with their new governors, Amy Acton and Kisha Lance Bottoms. But the largest and most interesting state is Texas. There's Greg Abbott's big, bold signature on it. It's Gina Hinojosa, the next governor of Texas, who is firing up a state law that gives data centers tax breaks. Part of her campaign focused on how data centers raise energy prices for Texans. Or about
a quarter of the new data center capacity that is planned to be built. Inohosa promised to change that. First, it would implement a plan that would require data center companies to prove that people's electricity and water bills would not increase. Second, it would end government subsidies. And third, cities would get a say in deciding whether to build a data center there at all, and if so, how. This may look like a red light for the industry, but it's probably closer to yellow. It's not a stopgap, but people say it could make everything much more expensive, lead to more uncertainty, and you could see data centers choosing other states. So the question is not really whether data centers will be built. And in how
fast, how expensive the energy will be and where exactly. All of this is happening at a time when Americans are already paying a lot for energy. And outside of AI, the economy is growing quite slowly, which is why AI is so important right now. So if that disappears or slows down, the economic consequences are potentially quite large. And now much of that growth depends on a few new governors and their energy policies.
