Ken Paxton, the Republican US Senate candidate in Texas backed by Donald Trump, has announced a "Texas first" datacenter plan aimed at curbing the "negative impact" of the facilities, as concerns about their power and water use spread across the political spectrum. The move comes amid a broader Republican scramble to respond to shifting public opinion, with the issue seen as a potential liability ahead of November's midterm elections, and follows Texas governor Greg Abbott's recent admission that tech companies had "dug their own grave" over the backlash.

Paxton's four-point plan includes banning Chinese technology from powering US datacenters, holding companies criminally liable if AI chatbots endanger children, and cutting red tape to stop datacentres raising Texans' electricity bills, alongside support for Abbott's proposals to ban new facilities in rural areas and repeal sales tax exemptions. His Democratic rival, James Talarico, accused him of hypocrisy given his past support for datacenter tax breaks, noting Paxton had taken nearly $500,000 from the industry; a Fox News poll in late July put Talarico ahead 51% to 48% in what the Cook Political Report calls a toss-up race. An Annenberg survey last month found 61% of Americans now oppose new datacenters in their area, up from 49% in March, while Paxton also faces lingering scrutiny over his 2023 impeachment, a dismissed securities fraud case, and his wife's divorce filing citing adultery.