Anthropic faces a political test as midterms put AI expansion in focus - Los Angeles Times
By Google News AI ·
Anthropic PBC’s initial public offering has plenty of hurdles to clear, and one of the biggest will hit Nov. 3, when U.S. midterm elections threaten to upend the political status quo that’s been broadly supportive of developing artificial intelligence at a breakneck pace. Victories for AI-skeptic Democrats in one or both houses of Congress, as well as in key governor’s races, would likely increase the pressure on AI labs, particularly in debates over the rapid rollout of data centers. Republicans have broadly stuck closer to President Trump’s support for the technology. Whatever happens, little is expected change before the IPO prices and the stock starts trading. Still, with Anthropic seeking to raise as much or more than SpaceX did in its record-setting $86.2-billion debut, and a market that’s dumped cold water on AI-related stocks in recent weeks, a changing of the guard risks shifting expectations around Anthropic’s ability to navigate the political landscape. While much of the attention is on the House and Senate, a key governor’s race holds an outsize influence on Anthropic’s data center footprint. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the withholding of permits for new data centers until an audit of risks to the power grid is complete, asserting that “Texans come first.” His rival, Democratic nominee Gina Hinojosa, characterized his move as an “election year stunt.” Anthropic has deals for multiple facilities in the state. Its $50-billion partnership with Fluidstack Ltd. — the company’s first major data center build-out that the Claude firm has taken on directly — will include locations in Texas and New York. It also has a $35-billion pact with Lambda for a data center in Nueces County and a $9.1-billion agreement with Riot Platforms Inc. for a campus in Rockdale…
Originally published by Google News AI