Big Tech is moving to repair its standing with Democrats after the midterm elections shifted the balance of power in Washington, even as the party has pledged to tighten oversight of artificial intelligence. OpenAI hired Jessica Schumer, daughter of Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, shortly before the vote, and said it would begin calling its data centers compute campuses. The moves follow two years in which many of Silicon Valley's biggest names built closer ties with President Donald Trump and his administration.
Those ties included attendance at White House events, scaled-back diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and executives donating millions to super PACs supporting Trump's campaign and allied candidates. Administration policies also benefited the industry through tax breaks, the pausing of some federal investigations and looser AI regulation. Meanwhile, Meta faced lawsuits and billion-dollar fines, and OpenAI faced suits alleging its technology harmed users.
J.B. Branch, director of federal AI governance and technology policy at Public Citizen, said the industry recognizes it has an optics problem and described gestures such as the Schumer hire and the rebranding as PR washing. He expects more of the same and pointed to OpenAI's partnership with the American Federation of Teachers announced last year, Anthropic's newly launched Claude Corps and Meta's America's Workforce Academy. Meta and other companies reportedly began seeking ways to strengthen ties to Democrats as Democratic midterm gains looked more likely.
A Meta spokesperson pointed to remarks Meta President Dina Powell McCormick made this week at WSJ Tech, saying companies must work with the government the American people elect and that being bipartisan secures buy-in for their goals. Alice Marwick, director of research at the nonprofit Data & Society, said she expects Big Tech to pivot back toward the middle if not the left, but called it a little too late and said companies should be asking how their products can improve people's lives.
If Democrats follow through, the industry could face a tougher environment, with data center moratoriums gaining traction and a wave of AI regulation bills awaiting drafting. Powell McCormick said at the same event that Meta wants to show communities welcoming its investments will see enormous benefit, while those that don't want them have the right to stop them. Aryan Ranjan, founder of campaign software company Baraza, said most action will likely occur at the state level, and that a coalition built on newer, working-class voters will likely push Democrats to frame AI around electricity bills, data-center siting and jobs rather than abstract AI safety.
Last December the Trump administration signed an executive order creating the AI Litigation Task Force to challenge state AI laws, arguing U.S. AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulations, though many states have passed their own laws on chatbots and deepfakes. A White House official said American leadership in super intelligence is essential for national security, economic prosperity and quality of life, and that Trump is committed to protecting consumers while working with anyone to deliver for hardworking Americans. Branch argued Trump's political fortunes are now tied to the AI industry, noting a trillion-dollar market sell-off the day after the midterms and predicting a strong likelihood of an AI bubble pop.
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