Elon Musk's business empire braces for Democratic wave as Texas flips blue

Elon Musk’s businesses faced political and regulatory headwinds in the United States after Democrats won both chambers of Congress and Gina Hinojosa defeated Greg Abbott in Texas on Tuesday. Musk had spent nearly half a billion dollars backing Republicans, while Tesla and SpaceX shares fell 5.1 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. Hinojosa has called for a halt to new Texas data-center projects until stronger community protections are in place and for an end to tax breaks. Delays could complicate SpaceX’s plans to expand AI data-center capacity and meet revenue targets.

SpaceX aimed to increase data-center capacity from 1.7 gigawatts at September-end to as much as 3 gigawatts by year-end and 13 gigawatts next year.

SemiAnalysis identified more than 9 gigawatts of planned or developing capacity, including facilities at SpaceX’s Starbase complex in Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX’s Colossus and Colossus II data centers are near Memphis, and the company rents computing power to customers including Anthropic.

Hinojosa sued to obtain emails between Musk and Abbott and opposed a potential sale of a beachfront state park to SpaceX.

Democratic lawmakers have scrutinized Musk over satellite communications used by Ukraine’s military, federal job cuts under DOGE, and government contracts and subsidies to his companies.

Published Nov 5, 2026 7:55 am KST

Updated Nov 5, 2026 7:56 am KST

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, top, looks on as US President Donald Trump speaks to the press after a meeting with technology executives about artificial intelligence at the White House in Washington, DC, Sept. 29. AFP-Yonhap

As Republicans suffered a landslide defeat and Texas elected its first Democratic governor in more than three decades, one of the biggest losers of the US midterms was not on the ballot: billionaire Elon Musk.

The world's richest man spent nearly half a billion dollars to back Republican candidates and keep Texas red - a state home to his automaker Tesla, rocket-to-AI company SpaceX and a planned chipmaking venture between the two.

Those bets unraveled as Democrats seized both chambers of Congress and Gina Hinojosa defeated Greg Abbott in the Texas governor's race, in a stinging rebuke to US President Donald Trump, a close Musk ally whom the billionaire helped elect.

Musk, who urged his followers on X to vote Republican as recently as Tuesday, now faces a resurgent Democratic Party that he has spent years antagonizing.

The GOP's largest donor even threatened retaliation last month on his social media platform after a report said Democrats were considering probes into his companies if they won midterms.

Shares of SpaceX fell 5.5 percent, while Tesla was down 5.1 percent as both stocks lagged the broader market.

One of Musk's biggest challenges could be slower approvals for the data centers crucial to tapping the $28.5 trillion addressable market that SpaceX touted to investors ahead of its IPO.

Analysts and experts expect Democrats to tighten scrutiny of data-center projects and push for construction moratoriums as local opposition grows over electricity costs.

"A Democratic sweep of Congress would put pressure on tech and potentially bring regulatory pressure on everything AI and possibly slow down the wild, wild west growth figures that we see daily and often take for granted," said Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management.

"Musk was the Hail Mary for Republicans leading down to the wire. Unfortunately, his large infusion of cash to back red states could not overcome higher utility bills, prices at the grocery store and prices at the gas pump."

Musk has also drawn scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers over restrictions on satellite communications used by Ukraine's military, mass federal job cuts under his watch at DOGE and the government contracts and subsidies flowing to his companies.

One of the lawmakers is Robert Garcia, the next House Oversight Committee chair, who had a blunt two-word message for Republicans and their allies on Tuesday evening: "Lawyer up."

Hinojosa pushes for data-center moratorium

In Texas, Musk will have to navigate an already strained relationship with Hinojosa. He will also face newly elected U.S. Senator James Talarico, against whom he spent heavily while backing Republican Ken Paxton.

Incoming governor Hinojosa had sued to obtain emails between Musk and Abbott and accused the former governor of selling out the Lone Star state by offering favorable deals to the billionaire.

She has also dismissed Abbott's efforts to rein in data centers as political theater, calling instead for an immediate halt to new projects until lawmakers strengthened protections for local communities, as well as an end to tax breaks.

Musk himself appeared to make light of the hurdles. "Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now," he posted on X, alluding to SpaceX's ambitious plan to put data centers in orbit despite major challenges around cooling and repairs.

The company's AI business is centered around Colossus and Colossus II, two of the world's largest AI data centers near Memphis. Renting their computing power to customers including Anthropic has sent revenue soaring and helped SpaceX post its first profit as a public company.

But the company aims to nearly double capacity from 1.7 gigawatts at September-end to as much as 3 gigawatts by year-end, before scaling up to 13 gigawatts next year.

Any delays in bringing the capacity online may hamper Musk's ambitious revenue targets and intensify scrutiny from investors growing wary about AI infrastructure's mounting costs.

Chip research firm SemiAnalysis has identified more than 9 gigawatts of planned or developing capacity, including new facilities at SpaceX's Starbase complex in Boca Chica, Texas.

That Boca Chica expansion could face resistance as Hinojosa has opposed the potential sale of a beachfront state park to SpaceX after Texas Monthly reported officials had discussed the deal.

"Let me be clear: Texas is not for sale," Hinojosa said last month. Musk, meanwhile, has deleted his election-day appeal to his followers to vote Republican.

周二，民主党赢得国会两院控制权，吉娜·希诺霍萨在德克萨斯州击败格雷格·阿博特后，埃隆·马斯克的生意在美国面临政治和监管方面的阻力。马斯克曾花费近5亿美元支持共和党，而特斯拉和SpaceX的股价分别下跌了5.1%和5.5%。希诺霍萨呼吁暂停德克萨斯州新的数据中心项目，直到加强社区保护措施并取消税收优惠。这些延误可能会使SpaceX扩大人工智能数据中心容量和实现营收目标的计划变得更加复杂。

SpaceX 的目标是将数据中心容量从 9 月底的 1.7 吉瓦提高到年底的 3 吉瓦，明年达到 13 吉瓦。

SemiAnalysis 确定了超过 9 吉瓦的规划或开发容量，其中包括 SpaceX 在德克萨斯州博卡奇卡的星际基地综合设施。

SpaceX 的 Colossus 和 Colossus II 数据中心位于孟菲斯附近，该公司向包括 Anthropic 在内的客户出租计算能力。

希诺霍萨提起诉讼，要求获取马斯克和阿博特之间的电子邮件，并反对将海滨州立公园出售给 SpaceX。

民主党议员对马斯克进行了严格审查，审查内容包括乌克兰军方使用的卫星通信、根据《狗狗福利法案》(DOGE) 削减联邦政府工作岗位，以及政府向其公司提供的合同和补贴。

发布于2026年11月5日 上午7:55（韩国标准时间）

更新于2026年11月5日 上午7:56（韩国标准时间）

9月29日，在华盛顿白宫，SpaceX首席执行官埃隆·马斯克（上图）注视着美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在与科技高管就人工智能问题举行会晤后向媒体发表讲话。（法新社-韩联社）

共和党遭遇惨败，德克萨斯州三十多年来首次选出民主党州长，而美国中期选举中最大的输家之一却不在选票上：亿万富翁埃隆·马斯克。

世界首富花费近 5 亿美元支持共和党候选人，以确保德克萨斯州继续保持红色阵营——德克萨斯州是他的汽车制造商特斯拉、火箭人工智能公司 SpaceX 的所在地，也是两家公司计划合作的芯片制造企业的所在地。

这些赌注最终落空，因为民主党人控制了国会两院，吉娜·希诺霍萨在德克萨斯州州长竞选中击败了格雷格·阿博特，这对美国总统唐纳德·特朗普（马斯克的亲密盟友，这位亿万富翁曾帮助他当选）来说是一次严厉的反击。

马斯克周二还在其X平台上敦促粉丝们投票给共和党，如今他却面临着一个重新崛起的民主党，而他多年来一直与民主党作对。

上个月，有报道称，如果民主党赢得中期选举，他们正在考虑对他的公司展开调查。共和党最大的捐款人甚至在他的社交媒体平台上威胁要进行报复。

SpaceX股价下跌5.5%，特斯拉股价下跌5.1%，两只股票均落后于大盘。

马斯克面临的最大挑战之一可能是数据中心的审批速度较慢，而数据中心对于开拓 SpaceX 在 IPO 前向投资者吹嘘的 28.5 万亿美元潜在市场至关重要。

分析人士和专家预计，随着当地民众对电力成本的反对声浪日益高涨，民主党人将加强对数据中心项目的审查，并推动暂停建设。

Longbow Asset Management 首席执行官 Jake Dollarhide 表示：“民主党横扫国会将给科技行业带来压力，并可能给人工智能领域的方方面面带来监管压力，并可能减缓我们每天看到且常常习以为常的、如同西部蛮荒时代般的增长速度。”

“马斯克是共和党在最后关头的孤注一掷。不幸的是，他向共和党州注入的大量资金，未能抵消不断上涨的公共事业费、食品杂货价和汽油价。”

马斯克还因限制乌克兰军方使用的卫星通信、在他执掌狗狗银行期间大规模裁减联邦政府职位以及向其公司输送政府合同和补贴等问题而受到民主党议员的审查。

其中一位议员是即将上任的众议院监督委员会主席罗伯特·加西亚，他在周二晚上向共和党人及其盟友发出了一条直截了当的两个字的信息：“准备好律师吧。”

希诺霍萨力主暂停数据中心建设

在德克萨斯州，马斯克将不得不处理与希诺霍萨之间本已紧张的关系。他还将面对新当选的美国参议员詹姆斯·塔拉里科，此前他曾斥巨资支持共和党候选人肯·帕克斯顿，反对塔拉里科。

即将上任的州长希诺霍萨提起诉讼，要求获取马斯克和阿博特之间的电子邮件，并指责这位前州长通过向这位亿万富翁提供优惠交易而出卖了孤星之州。

她还驳斥了艾伯特限制数据中心的努力是政治作秀，并呼吁立即停止新项目，直到立法者加强对地方社区的保护，并停止税收优惠。

马斯克本人似乎对这些障碍不以为意。他在X上发帖称：“太空数据中心现在看起来相当有吸引力”，指的是SpaceX雄心勃勃的计划，即尽管面临冷却和维修方面的重大挑战，也要将数据中心送入轨道。

该公司的人工智能业务以位于孟菲斯附近的两座全球最大的人工智能数据中心——巨像数据中心和巨像二号数据中心为核心。通过向包括Anthropic在内的客户出租其计算能力，SpaceX的收入飙升，并帮助该公司实现了上市以来的首次盈利。

但该公司计划在 9 月底将产能从 1.7 吉瓦提高到年底的 3 吉瓦，几乎翻一番，然后在明年扩大到 13 吉瓦。

任何延迟将产能投入使用都可能阻碍马斯克雄心勃勃的收入目标，并加剧投资者对人工智能基础设施不断上涨的成本的担忧。

芯片研究公司 SemiAnalysis 已确定超过 9 吉瓦的规划或开发产能，其中包括 SpaceX 在德克萨斯州博卡奇卡的星际基地综合设施的新设施。

博卡奇卡的扩建可能会面临阻力，因为据《德克萨斯月刊》报道，官员们曾讨论过将海滨州立公园出售给 SpaceX 的交易，而希诺霍萨对此表示反对。

“我要明确表示：德克萨斯州绝不出售，”希诺霍萨上个月说道。与此同时，马斯克删除了他在选举日当天呼吁支持者投票给共和党的帖子。