Texas Hits Brakes On Data Centers — And Elon Musk’s Plans

Newsweek · James Bickerton · 2026-11-06 11:00 UTC

Incoming Texas governor Gina Hinojosa vowed to impose an "immediate moratorium on data centers" during her campaign.

Texas governor-elect Gina Hinojosa pledged during her successful gubernatorial election campaign to impose an “immediate moratorium on data centers” until “real protections” for Texans are put in place by the Texas Legislature.

Texas is one of the epicenters of the American data center industry, having more operational data centers than any other state bar Virginia, as per a Pew Research Center study published in April. According to CNN, a quarter of America’s “planned AI infrastructure buildout” is due to take place in the Lone Star State.

Earlier this year, The Information reported that SpaceXAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, was exploring a number of projects in Texas including building new data centers and converting existing warehouses into data centers.

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