US Midterm Results Also Hit Elon Musk

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has emerged as one of the biggest losers of the US midterm elections, which renew Congress and decide the leadership of several states. He is among the largest donors to the Republican Party, yet candidates he backed lost almost nationwide, according to "Politico".

A record sum

Per the outlet, Musk spent roughly $446 million during the campaign, about $200 million of it supporting Texas candidates. That is the largest amount ever spent on a midterm by a person who is not running for office. Among those who lost were Ken Paxton in Texas and Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio.

Data center plans in doubt

In Texas, Democratic candidate Gina Hinojosa won the governorship, putting Musk's plans to build large data centers in the state in jeopardy. Texas has in recent years become a much-discussed location for such construction, and outgoing Governor Greg Abbott has been a close ally of tech giants and Wall Street figures.

Sam Koppelman, publisher of the investigative outlet Hunterbrook Media, said that as opposition to data centers grows across the country, Texas was supposed to be an artificial intelligence oasis where they could be built regardless of developments elsewhere in the US, but the election changed everything.

On Wednesday morning Musk wrote on the social network X that building data centers in space was now starting to look quite attractive. He also joked about accusations of election interference, saying his space lasers for influencing elections had apparently failed this time.

Possible investigations

If Democrats take control of Congress, Musk could become a target of investigations, and some Democrats have already called for tech company leaders to be held accountable. Greg Casar, a representative of the Texas Democratic Party, said on the evening of November 3 that voters did not choose Republicans partly because they are sponsored by AI-development billionaires, and that this should carry accountability.