Paxton unveils data center plan, joining other GOP candidates in calling for restrictions

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) unveiled a plan Monday to place restrictions on data centers if elected to the U.S. Senate, becoming the latest GOP candidate to take a stronger stance against the controversial AI infrastructure. Paxton laid out his four-point plan, vowing to “fiercely advocate” for Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) state-level data center plan and sponsor or back various federal legislation. This includes legislation that would bar the use of Chinese technology to power data centers and would hold data center developers criminally liable if their infrastructure “empowers AI chatbots that undermine children's safety.” He also said he would co-sponsor the Decentralized Access to Technology Alternatives Act, a bill from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) that would exempt new, off-grid electricity providers from certain federal regulations in an effort to prevent data centers from raising consumer electricity costs. “My Texas First Data Center Plan will protect our grid, our communities, and our children while ensuring America beats Communist China in the AI race,” Paxton wrote in a post on the social platform X. “Texas First. Always.” Paxton is facing off against Democratic nominee James Talarico in a tight race for the Texas Senate seat, which the Cook Political Report recently classified as a “toss-up.” Data centers have increasingly become a central issue in the midterm elections, as Americans have grown wary of the push to rapidly build more of the sprawling server wareho…