Midterm results could bring tighter rules for U.S. data centers

Democrats’ victories in the U.S. midterm elections may affect the technology industry, particularly the development of data centers. Voters considered 41 ballot measures related to data centers, and majorities supported additional restrictions in all but one case. Data centers also featured prominently in campaigns where no direct measure was proposed.

Newly elected Democratic governors and members of Congress are described as likely to favor further regulation. The issue was discussed on the latest episode of the Equity podcast, alongside the prospect of greater government scrutiny of large technology companies and OpenAI’s efforts to rebrand data centers.

The episode also examined whether Google’s first satellite data center could point toward orbital facilities, and whether AI contributed to layoffs at Canva and Squarespace. Other topics included Marvell’s planned $115 billion acquisition of Lumentum, CrowdStrike’s purchases of two AI security startups, and NBCUniversal’s investment in Indian microdrama company Elo Elo.