U.S. data center regulations surge ... White House: “AI investment will not be disrupted”

【Financial News, New York = Correspondent Lee Byung-cheol】 The Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the U.S. midterm elections, and efforts to restrict data center construction are gaining momentum. But the Trump administration has made clear that it will continue its policy of expanding investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. The White House said the data center construction plans scheduled for the next two years would not be affected and forecast that investment would continue, particularly in areas favorable to regulation.
Kevin Hassett, chair of the White House National Economic Council (NEC), said in an interview with CNBC on the 6th (local time), “The United States is a large country,” adding, “The data centers scheduled to be built over the next two years will not be affected by the results of these local referendums.”
Alongside the Democratic Party’s landslide victory in the midterm elections, local residents’ opposition to data center construction was also clearly evident. According to Ballotpedia, an election information organization, voters supported restricting development in at least 46 of the approximately 50 data center-related ballot measures put to a vote this year.
Concerns over increased power consumption, higher electricity bills and environmental damage resulting from data center construction are spreading, and analysts say this is also putting pressure on the Trump administration, which has made fostering the AI industry a central economic policy.
In a voter survey conducted by CNBC, 56% of midterm election voters cited data centers as an important or major election issue. In particular, 62% of voters who considered the issue very important were found to support Democratic candidates.
However, while respecting communities’ decisions to oppose data center construction, Hassett said he did not expect any major disruption to AI infrastructure investment across the United States.
“There is plenty of room in the United States for data centers to continue growing at the level expected before the election,” he said, explaining that related facilities would expand especially in areas with governors actively seeking to attract data centers.
He added, “Once the benefits data centers bring become so clear, people will change their minds about how to regulate them,” arguing that areas currently opposed to construction could eventually change their positions.
Hassett said policy uncertainty stemming from Democrats taking control of Congress was also behind the previous day’s sharp drop in the New York stock market, led by technology stocks.
“There is a possibility that the new congressional majority will intervene in data center-related policy and cause disruption,” he said. “I think that is exactly what the market is concerned about.”
He nevertheless assessed that even if growth in the data center industry slowed somewhat, its impact on the U.S. economy as a whole would be limited. Hassett maintained an optimistic outlook for the economy, saying, “Even if growth slows a little in fast-growing industries like data centers, the U.S. economy can still maintain explosive growth.”
President Trump also reaffirmed his commitment to supporting the AI industry that day through his social media platform, Truth Social. In particular, he has recently been calling AI “Super Intelligence (SI)” and emphasizing the industry’s economic benefits.
“As president, I 100% support superintelligence,” Trump said, adding, “I will work with the many states in America that want to become wealthy through it.”
He added, “Superintelligence is like gold,” and argued, “The only leaders who would reject the enormous wealth superintelligence will bring are foolish ones.”



[email protected] Correspondent Lee Byung-cheol Reporter