Big Tech's midterm reckoning: courting Democrats while states and markets close in

Big Tech is scrambling to rebuild ties with Democrats after the midterm elections shifted Washington's balance of power, following two years of close alignment with the Trump administration. The industry faces potential tighter AI oversight as Democrats have pledged increased regulation. Companies like OpenAI have hired Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer's daughter and rebranded data centers as "compute campuses," moves critics call "PR washing." Meta and others are investing in public-private partnerships, though experts say state-level actions on data centers and AI laws may matter more than federal image-polishing. The AI industry's fate is increasingly tied to market volatility, with a recent trillion-dollar sell-off raising bubble concerns. Political gridlock may push regulatory action to states, where moratoriums and lawsuits are already underway, leaving company rules dependent on location rather than federal policy.