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The Guardian view on the AI backlash: American voters want a say in their future | Editorial

This week’s midterms showed that the political bill for the AI boom is falling due. The Democratic sweep intensified fears over runaway spending, mounting debt and resistance to datacentres, sending tech shares tumbling. On Thursday Wall Street suffered its worst day since the pandemic as $3.2tn was wiped from markets. Anthropic, developer of the Claude chatbot, is hoping to float within the next fortnight for $1.5tn (£1.1tn), but it may not now get even a trillion dollars. The dominant AI chipmaker Nvidia saw i…

Truvace record2 min read1 sourceEvidence: Emerging · 30/100 — Commentary, opinion, or narrative review · 1 independent sourceJournalismTRV-2026-2403 · cite or check it
The Guardian view on the AI backlash: American voters want a say in their future | Editorial

In brief

The Guardian's editorial says this week's US midterms showed the political cost of the AI boom coming due. Democrats swept races, tech shares fell, and on Thursday Wall Street had its worst day since the pandemic, with $3.2tn wiped from markets.

Nvidia lost more than $400bn in value and Elon Musk lost $113bn in two days. Anthropic hopes to float within a fortnight at $1.5tn but may not reach even a trillion dollars. The editorial argues the sell-off may bring a needed dose of reality to valuations built on heroic profit expectations.

In Texas, Musk spent $200m for Republicans, yet Democrats won a Senate seat, the governorship and every other statewide office, plus the state house. The editorial says Democrats who criticised datacentre construction or pledged to slow it won across the country. It calls for stronger worker bargaining power and fair sharing of productivity gains.

Main points

  1. Wall Street lost $3.2tn on Thursday, its worst day since the pandemic, after the Democratic midterm sweep.
  2. Nvidia's value fell by more than $400bn; Elon Musk lost $113bn in two days.
  3. Anthropic's planned $1.5tn flotation may not now reach even a trillion dollars, the editorial says.
  4. Musk spent $200m in Texas for Republicans, but Democrats won a Senate seat, the governorship and every other statewide office.
  5. Democrats say they will make AI companies answerable for the environmental and societal costs of datacentres and for harm from their products.
  6. The editorial says technology was given as the reason 120,000 Americans lost their jobs this year.

The problem

The Guardian's editorial says the AI boom drew voter anger over electricity prices, water demand and disruption from datacentres, and that technology was given as the reason 120,000 Americans lost their jobs this year.

The full story

The editorial frames the midterms as a verdict on AI policy. It says Donald Trump rejected concerns about AI and called worries about its dangers a hoax, despite most Americans wanting more safeguards, and that Republicans paid for it.

It says Trump treated computing capacity as a national asset to expand rapidly and dismissed resistance to the infrastructure. Democrats campaigned against costs falling on residents while gains went to tech billionaires and companies that donated to Trump's favoured causes.

SpaceX, which the editorial describes as a combined space, satellite-connectivity and AI group, warned in its June 2026 prospectus that new regulations could derail its growth plans.

Looking ahead, the editorial expects the new Congress to be readier to shield voters from datacentre-driven price rises, require independent safety testing for advanced AI and clarify liability for harms. It argues that letting markets decide alone will deepen economic insecurity and political distrust.

Sources

  1. JournalismThe Guardian2026-11-06

The debate