Strong voter backlash in the US midterm elections against AI infrastructure projects, including data centres, indicates that framing the domestic buildout as key to competing with China failed to convince Americans and underscores the need to address local concerns, according to analysts.
“The argument that we need to build more data centres to win in AI against China no longer seems to have the kind of resonance it did before, if it ever did, frankly,” said Kyle Chan, a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Centre.
Lizzi Lee, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, echoed that assessment, saying: “The lesson is that invoking China as a justification for tech and industrial investment is becoming less effective.”