More American candidates now campaign on AI and data centres than on Israel, manufacturing or racism

The Washington Post went through roughly 1,200 websites of candidates still in the running for the November midterms and found that AI or data centre policy appears in about 40% of races. Measured that way, the subject has passed several long-established campaign topics, including Israel, manufacturing and racism. The imbalance between the parties is large: Democrats running for the House, Senate or governor are more than twice as likely as Republicans to raise anything about AI or data centres on their sites. The pressure underneath the numbers is local rather than ideological. A Gallup poll this year found that seven in ten Americans oppose an AI data centre being built in their own area, and more than 1,500 new centres have been proposed across the country. NPR, NBC News and PBS have all reported the same pattern from the primaries: complaints about electricity bills, water use, noise and the absence of clear local benefit, raised by candidates of both parties, sometimes against their own side.

✓ Verified · 4 sources

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