Paxton promises to ban Chinese technology and chatbots that endanger children in data center platform

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday pledged to ban Chinese technology from U.S. data centers and hold companies criminally liable if their data centers power AI chatbots that endanger children, as part of his data center platform in the U.S. Senate race. Paxton also backed the DATA Act, a bill by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, to allow off-the-grid power systems exempt from federal regulation, and supported Gov. Greg Abbott's regulatory push, including repealing sales tax exemptions for data centers. The announcement follows months of pressure from Democratic opponent James Talarico, who unveiled his own plan in July, and comes as Texas has 335 existing data centers with more than 248 in the works, according to a Texas Tribune analysis.

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday pledged to ban Chinese technology from U.S. data centers and hold companies criminally liable if their data centers power AI chatbots that endanger children if elected to the Senate. His data center platform stakes out his position on what has become a flashpoint in Texas’ U.S. Senate race after months of pressure from Democratic opponent James Talarico, who rolled out his plan more than a month ago. He also backed the DATA Act, a bill by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, that would let data centers build off-the-grid power systems exempt from federal regulation, and to champion Gov. Greg Abbott’s state-level regulatory push https://www.texastribune.org/2026/06/10/texas-greg-abbott-data-centers-regulation-sales-tax/ — including a repeal of the industry’s sales tax exemptions, among “other outdated incentives,” per the plan. He also said he would back a ban on AI data centers in rural Texas, which Abbott has also floated on the campaign trail. The two Senate candidates are backing similar policy regulations: requiring water systems that don’t guzzle nearly as much of the resource, getting the industry to pay its own infrastructure costs, and terminating the tax breaks. However, as a freshman state senator in 2013, Paxton voted for the data center sales tax exemption https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ais-massive-appetite-power-water-ignites-fight-high-stakes-texas-senate-race that helped spark the industry’s boom in Texas — a break the state comptroller now projects will cost $3.2 billion in revenue over the next two years https://www.texastribune.org/2026/06/10/texas-greg-abbott-data-centers-regulation-sales-tax/ . Paxton’s announcement caps a monthslong stretch of silence on the front that exploded into the center of the campaign. Data centers — large warehouses of computer servers that power artificial intelligence and cloud computing — have proliferated across Texas faster than almost anywhere in the country, drawing fierce backlash from communities concerned about noise, water use and rising electricity bills. A Texas Tribune analysis https://www.texastribune.org/2026/06/02/texas-data-centers-hood-county-local-control-rural-water-power/ found the state has 335 existing data centers with more than 248 in the works, and a June poll from the Texas Politics Project https://texasscorecard.com/decisiontexas/ut-poll-finds-close-senate-race-majority-oppose-data-centers/ at the University of Texas at Austin found a majority of Texans oppose construction of the facilities in their communities. Talarico, an Austin state representative, has used the GOP’s early support for data center investment as a persistent line of attack, unveiling his “Hold Data Centers Accountable Plan” in July https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/22/texas-james-talarico-data-centers-regulation-senate-2026/ . His plan goes one step further than his GOP opponent, calling for giving local officials approval power over data center projects. Talarico pressed Paxton over a request from Hood County, a rural community southwest of Fort Worth where developers have proposed eight data centers https://www.texastribune.org/2026/06/02/texas-data-centers-hood-county-local-control-rural-water-power/ spanning more than 7,600 acres. County officials there asked the attorney general’s office in February whether the county could impose a moratorium on data center development. Six months later, the opinion is still https://www.keranews.org/news/2026-08-11/data-center-industry-contributes-thousands-to-ken-paxton-campaign-texas-attorney-general-james-talarico without a decision, and NOTUS reported this month https://www.notus.org/technology/ken-paxton-data-centers-texas-senate-race-james-talarico that Paxton’s political operation has taken in nearly $450,000 from data-center affiliated donors. “Ken Paxton has taken nearly half a million dollars from the data center industry, voted to flood Texas with data centers by giving them billions in tax handouts, and has refused to use his power as attorney general to respond to Texans’ requests to block data center development in their communities,” Talarico said in a statement Monday. “Now he’s scared his ties to big data center companies will lose him the election, so he’s making a sad attempt to reverse course by releasing a plan he literally used AI to make https://x.com/admcrlsn/status/2091904771493965918?s=46 .” Paxton used similar language in his statement on the plan’s release to jab “Talarico and his campaign infrastructure” that “accept millions of dollars from data center-affiliated donors.” Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn’s co-founder and an outspoken advocate of expanding data centers to edge out China, has given $10 million https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/16/texas-senate-james-talarico-super-pac-reid-hoffman-10-million-lone-star-rising/ to Lone Star Rising, the super PAC supporting Talarico. Paxton’s plan targeting China’s interest dovetails with a broader Republican effort to reframe the race around national security. Truth and Courage PAC, a super PAC aligned with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, aired an ad Monday attacking Talarico’s on his vote against a 2025 law that banned people and entities tied to China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from purchasing land in Texas. The ad is part of a $1.7 million buy https://www.axios.com/2026/08/21/ted-cruz-super-pac-ken-paxton-texas-senate-race-republicans-midterms , signaling the Republican party’s nerves ahead of November. Talarico has raised more than $70 million, more than any non-incumbent Senate candidate in the country this cycle, and entered the summer with nearly $22 million in cash on hand to Paxton’s roughly $2 million. The Cook Political Report last week moved the race from “lean Republican” to “toss-up,” and several polls have shown Talarico with a narrow lead https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/07/texas-us-senate-james-talarico-ken-paxton-polls/ in his bid to become the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas in more than three decades. “There’s no doubt in my mind that the United States will beat the Chinese Communist Party in the AI race,” Paxton said in a statement. “This plan will ensure that happens while putting Texas first, protecting our culture and land, and safeguarding our families and communities.