Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has recently laid out new plans for companies intending to build data centers in the state amid his campaign for U.S. Senate. The Texas politician’s plans backfired, however, as nearly every commenter online criticized his ideas, including both people who like and dislike data centers.
Paxton recently posted his “Texas First Data Center Plan” on X, calling it a way to protect local children and communities. The plan has four main points. One is prohibiting the use of Chinese technology to power American data centers. Another is to hold data center companies responsible if they “empower AI chatbots that undermine children’s safety.”
The plan includes a measure to eliminate red tape and federal regulations to create new power systems, ensuring Texans do not pay more for electricity. The final point is to work together with Governor Greg Abbott to prohibit AI data centers from being developed in rural areas, repeal sales tax exemptions for companies involved in the industry, and more.
Voters Are Not Trusting Ken Paxton’s Data Center Plans #
Curiously, Paxton’s plans seemed to irritate both sides in the data center debate. One commenter said: “The data centers are already here. Texas is full of them. Paxton should have spoken up before now. He’s running for the Senate of the United States. He won’t be making policy for Texas. He was all for data centers until Texans saw the problems.”
Another seemingly irritated user said: “Absolutely NO Data Centers!!!!!!! NO exceptions! Don’t use Trump’s failed/failing talking points! You want data centers, you will lose! Any politician that wants data centers will lose!”
Some people sided with data center developers and attacked Paxton: “The data center is the main driver of our GDP and the growth engine of our service economy; don’t let these commie propagandists from China let you think otherwise.”
Others defended the construction of these sites as vital: “How does this help the US (and Texas) win the AI race? How quickly can we get datacenters through this bureaucracy? We need to get past this in days-weeks max, not months+. Datacenters are essentially factories for knowledge, and we need to get past this quickly!”
To make matters even worse, Paxton seemingly used AI to make the social media post, which prompted some people to make jokes at his expense: “Ken Paxton used AI to make his data center plan. You can’t make this up.”
Overall, the initial reception of these plans seems mixed at best, so time will tell whether this pivot toward being more restrictive with data centers will help Paxton’s campaign or not.