Two Hundred Sixty Five Million Dollars Into the Midterms: The AI Industry Meets the Data Center Backlash, September 6, 2026

Two Hundred Sixty Five Million Dollars Into the Midterms: The AI Industry Meets the Data Center Backlash The artificial intelligence industry has pledged roughly two hundred sixty five million dollars to super political action committees and allied groups ahead of the 2026 midterms, with a single goal: a national AI framework that preempts state law after the Senate rejected preemption ninety nine to one. Rick Spair and Laura trace the money through Leading the Future, Public First Action, and Build American AI, weigh Anthropic's separate posture, and examine the pending FEC complaint over shell company spending. Then they look at the obstacle nobody priced in, an eighty percent public opposition to new data center construction that is turning land, water, and electricity bills into a general election issue. Hosted by Rick Spair and Laura. The DX Today Podcast brings you daily deep dives into the most consequential stories in the AI ecosystem. #AIPolicy #Midterms2026 #DataCenters #CampaignFinance #AIRegulation