▲ Texas Governor-Elect Gina Hinojosa
The Democratic governor-elect of Texas has vowed to put the brakes on data center construction as soon as her term begins.
In an interview with CNN on the 5th local time, Texas Governor-Elect Gina Hinojosa said, "We are going to craft legislation to protect Texans (from the harms caused by data centers), and until those safeguards are in place, we need to pause data center-related operations."
She went on to say, "It's not that I hate data centers," but emphasized, "I hate them taking the cream of the crop and leaving Texas behind, and once I become governor, that's going to stop."
Her policy to establish safeguards for data centers reaffirms a pledge she made during her campaign.
Hinojosa has consistently criticized the fact that data centers are depleting water resources available to residents and causing power shortages, which in turn drive up electricity prices.
She has repeatedly emphasized her campaign promise to immediately suspend the approval of new data center construction.
Texas has long been called an "AI oasis" due to the relative ease of building data centers with the cooperation of the state government.
OpenAI and Oracle currently operate data centers in Texas, and about 30% of the new data center capacity expected to come online in the U.S. by 2028 was projected to be located in Texas, meaning the move is likely to have a significant impact on the U.S. AI industry as well.
The governor-elect also addressed her relationship with Elon Musk, the Texas-based billionaire and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla.
Musk is a prominent Republican-supporting businessman who has donated political funds to outgoing Governor Greg Abbott, who competed against Hinojosa.
Hinojosa warned that while she could maintain a strong cooperative relationship with Musk, he must abide by the conditions she sets, stating, "You cannot just ignore Texans and run roughshod. That is what has changed."
Moves to put the brakes on businesses led by Musk have already been spotted.
Hinojosa revealed that she called the executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department earlier in the day to ask for a suspension of land sale negotiations with SpaceX for a state park.
According to local Texas media, SpaceX has reportedly shown interest in purchasing land at Boca Chica State Park.
Speaking at a press conference held at the University of Texas at Austin earlier that day, Hinojosa mentioned Boca Chica State Park and emphasized that it is a "vital resource."
At the same time, she promised not to exclude Republicans in the process of forming her state government, pledging to build a bipartisan administration.
Her transition committee includes a former Republican state lawmaker, and Hinojosa stated that she will also join hands with conservatives to improve public school performance.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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