Where every US governor stands on AI and the data-center boom

It’s up to voters whether artificial intelligence will play a role in the outcome of the coming midterm elections.

The AI boom — and the infrastructure needed to power it — has slowly become a flashpoint in US politics.

The debate ranges from AI safety, regulation, and deepfakes to the rapid expansion of data centers.

Many Big Tech firms advocate for faster expansion, while local residents have pushed back against data-center projects over their potential environmental and energy-cost impacts.

One big question for voters: What roles should state and federal governments play in regulating AI?

Another is how much power local communities should have over the data centers increasingly being built in their backyards.

Governors across the political spectrum — 17 of whom are up for reelection this year — have taken varied approaches to the AI boom.

All 39 gubernatorial races, across 36 states and three territories, are on November 3.

Some governors, including California’s Gavin Newsom (D) and New York’s Kathy Hochul (D), are exploring an AI “kill switch” that would disable advanced AI systems in an out-of-control event.

Spencer Cox has also called for federal AI safety rules.

Others, including the Republican governors of Nevada and North Dakota and the Democratic governors of Michigan and New Mexico — whose states have major AI-computing projects under construction — see data centers as an economic opportunity.

Here’s what every US governor has said so far about AI, data centers, or both.