The Election Day Revolt That Threatens America’s AI Boom; Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2026

   

Will Parker

, 

Anissa Gardizy

 and 

Amrith Ramkumar, Wall Street Journal; The Election Day Revolt That Threatens America’s AI Boom

Data Center-Related Ballot Measures

Rows shaded in gray are for ballot measures that were more favorable toward development. The unshaded rows are for measures that were more prohibitive or restrictive of data centers.

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Table with 6 columns and 41 rows of data. Currently displaying rows 1 to 8. (column headers with buttons are sortable)

Alhambra	Calif.	✔	Prohibit data centers in the city	82% 82%	18% 18%
Ashville	Ohio	✘	Uphold a term summary to guide negotiations between the Village of Ashville and EdgeConneX regarding two data center	18% 18%	82% 82%
Bloomington	Ill.	✔	Advise the city to impose a moratorium on building large-scale data centers	78% 78%	22% 22%
Boulder City	Nev.	✘	Allow data centers within the Eldorado Valley Transfer Area	29% 29%	71% 71%
Chouteau (Madison County)	Ill.	✘	Advise officials to permit the construction and operation of new data centers in the township	17% 17%	83% 83%
Conneaut	Ohio	✔	Prohibit the construction of data centers with an aggregate monthly electrical demand or peak load greater than 25 megawatts	65% 65%	35% 35%
Defiance	Ohio	✔	Prohibit the construction of data centers with an aggregate demand or peak load greater than 25 megawatts	65% 65%	35% 35%
Downe (Cumberland County)	N.J.	✘	Advise support for data centers in Downe Township	13% 13%	87% 87%

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Note: Tap or click column headers to sort. Table shows measures that were voted on Nov. 3. Data are as of Wednesday afternoon. WSJ classified the measures as either more favorable or more restrictive.

As budgets tighten, people are breaking out their library cards; NPR, November 5, 2026

 Joe Hernandez, NPR ; As budgets tighten, people are breaking out their library cards

"It is something of a truism in the library world that, when economic conditions worsen, people use libraries more. Patrons and librarians across the U.S. tell NPR they're seeing that pan out now...

Data shared with NPR by several of the largest public library systems in the U.S. show recent upticks in cardholder membership, circulation and event attendance. Librarians say part of that can be attributed to the rising cost of living — and the growing recognition that libraries' resources extend far beyond physical books...

There is historical precedent for the idea that economic slumps are a boon to libraries.

An analysis by the American Library Association found that circulation increased at 18 large public library systems during a brief U.S. recession in 2001. Another study of 541 libraries found that library use was higher during the Great Recession than in previous years. (However, a 1986 article that tried to draw a similar correlation found no data to support that theory.)"

OpenAI pledges to pay for data center power after election highlights AI concerns; CNBC, November 5, 2026

 Ashley Capoot, CNBC ; OpenAI pledges to pay for data center power after election highlights AI concerns

"OpenAI reaffirmed its promise to pay the full cost of powering data centers as part of a series of commitments the company published Thursday, two days after voters at the polls roundly rejected the rapid expansion of AI.

The artificial intelligence company said in its commitments that for data centers it owns and operates, it will solicit community input, publish construction plans and stay away from use of non-disclosure agreements with public officials. Additionally, in a policy blueprint, OpenAI encouraged policymakers to enact similar commitments as laws. 

“What we’re doing with this blueprint is really laying out the best lessons that we have learned and committing to applying them as they go forward,” OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane told reporters during a Wednesday briefing. “This will help ensure that there is a very high floor in terms of how people move forward.”

On Tuesday, Americans issued a stinging rebuke of data centers at the polls. Out of 41 local ballot measures across 10 states, voters backed restrictions or rejected pro-development measures for all but one, according to an analysis by Ballotpedia and additional results gathered by CNBC on Wednesday.

Opposition to AI data centers mounted swiftly over the summer across both sides of the political aisle. Consumers grappling with inflation, rising grocery prices and stubbornly high prices at the pump grew worried that the facilities could exacerbate environmental harms, raise utility bills and contribute to job loss. For many, they became a physical manifestation of the widespread antipathy and anxiety around AI."

‘The Pitt’s Battle With Michael Crichton Estate Heading To Trial As Warner Bros Rebuffed By Appeals Court; Deadline, November 4, 2026

Dominic Patten, Deadline; ‘The Pitt’s Battle With Michael Crichton Estate Heading To Trial As Warner Bros Rebuffed By Appeals Court

"Two months after hearing arguments from Pitt producers and the Michael Crichton Estate over whether the HBO Max series is derivative of ER, a panel of appeals court judges has affirmed a lower court ruling on the case. All of which means The Pitt and the now Skydance-owned Warner Bros is heading to a jury trial in L.A. Superior Court."

A nationwide backlash against data centers erupts at the polls; The Washington Post, November 4, 2026

 

Miriam Waldvogel

, 

Shira Ovide

 and 

Evan Halper

, The Washington Post ; A nationwide backlash against data centers erupts at the polls

In at least 38 jurisdictions voters rejected or restricted data centers, delivering a major setback to the AI industry.

"Voters in at least 38 jurisdictions across the country passed bans or restrictions on data centers Tuesday, reflecting the widespread public revulsion to the facilities and adding to the growing pushback on the ambitions of the artificial intelligence industry."

Elon Musk’s record election bet backfired. The backlash may reach beyond one billionaire; CNBC, November 4, 2026

 Luke Fountain, CNBC; Elon Musk’s record election bet backfired. The backlash may reach beyond one billionaire

"Democrats’ sweeping midterms victory marked a major rejection of Elon Muskand the artificial-intelligence industry, as a broad backlash against U.S. President Donald Trump and his tech allies put their political influence — and the debt-fueled data center buildout — under sharper scrutiny.

Musk, who spent a record of at least $474 million on the midterms, funneled $224 million, or nearly half, into Texas alone, according to a CNBC analysis of campaign finance records, only to see his favored candidates, Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott, trounced in a Democratic wave.

The defeats rattled markets overnight, sending SpaceX and Tesla shares lower, both of which have long flourished under Abbott’s business-friendly. Meanwhile, broader tech stocks came under pressure as Democrats secured control of Congress. 

Across the country, voters pushed back against billionaire influence and the growing power of technology companies, electing critics of the AI industry and approving restrictions on data centers fueling its expansion.

“We must get big money out of our politics, so no billionaire or trillionaire can buy our elections,” Democratic Senator-elect James Talarico said in his victory speech, without naming Musk. “We must unrig this economic system that only benefits the top 1%.”"

Setback for Google as EU court adviser warns AI chatbot may breach copyright rules; Reuters, November 3, 2026

Inti Landauro and Foo Yun Chee, Reuters; Setback for Google as EU court adviser warns AI chatbot may breach copyright rules

"Google faced a setback on Tuesday when an adviser to Europe's highest court said its Gemini chatbot's use of publishers' articles to respond to queries from internet users may breach copyright rules.

The case underscores growing tensions between publishers and big online platforms over the platforms' AI chatbots' use ​of press stories without what publishers say is proper compensation. The tensions have prompted complaints to EU and national antitrust ​regulators."

New York Times sues maker of Brave web browser over copyrights; Reuters, November 2, 2026

Blake Brittain , Reuters; New York Times sues maker of Brave web browser over copyrights

"A group of newspapers, including the New York Times and the New York Daily ​News, sued internet company Brave Software in Manhattan federal court ‌on Monday for allegedly scraping their articles for AI training and unlawfully enabling users of its web browser to circumvent their paywalls...

The cases are ​New York ⁠Times Co v. Brave Software Inc, US District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:26-cv-09549 and Daily News LP v. Brave ⁠Software ​Inc, US District Court for the Southern ​District of New York, No. 1:26-cv-09554"

3 years after fight over LGBTQ+ books, an Arkansas community takes up vote to cut library money; Arkansas Advocate, November 2, 2026

 TESS VRBIN , Arkansas Advocate; 3 years after fight over LGBTQ+ books, an Arkansas community takes up vote to cut library money

Ballot measure driven by Saline County elected officials, not private citizens

"Saline County has been a primary battleground over Arkansas libraries’ funding and content in the past few years, part of a larger fight libraries around the country have faced over efforts to restrict access to books addressing race, sexuality or other controversial subjects. The vote comes three years after Saline County’s library director was fired in a standoff with conservatives who wanted books about LGBTQ+ topics removed from shelves. 

The library’s Facebook page includes information about voting, but no mention of Issue 5.

“If a ballot initiative had been run by citizens… the library could have come out and defended itself,” Chism said. “They can’t do anything when it’s their own elected officials doing it.”

The all-Republican Saline County Quorum Court voted 10-2 in May, after much public pushback, to allow the public to vote on reducing the Saline County Library’s millage to 1.1 mills. The library currently receives 1.7 mills, or $1.70 for every $1,000 of assessed property tax in the county of more than 131,000 people.

If voters approve Issue 5, the library is expected to lose $1.4 million per year, or about one-third of its projected $5.7 million operating budget for 2027."

Anthropic says you can’t be mean to Claude. It’s not about feelings; CNN, November 1, 2026

 Hadas Gold , CNN; Anthropic says you can’t be mean to Claude. It’s not about feelings

"In early October, AI giant Anthropic inserted new language into its AI usage policy.

Alongside banning users from trying to get Claude, the company’s AI system, to help them create bioweapons or sell illegal drugs, the company added a new line: Users should not “engage in sustained and needless abusive or cruel behavior toward our models.”

Claude has had the ability to end conversations with users who were “persistently harmful or abusive” since last year, but now some users could, in extreme cases, be permanently banned from using Anthropic’s AI systems entirely under the new policy. (Anthropic declined interview requests, but a spokesperson told CNN the main enforcement mechanism will still be Claude ending the conversations, and that the prohibition is not for people expressing frustration, blunt feedback, or testing and research.)

The new policy was met with some derision. Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman responded with a melting face emoji. Some made fun of the company for treating its AI as a conscious being with feelings...

Former Reddit CEO Yishan Wong wrote on X that one reason for the prohibition is because Claude “will learn from cruelty.”

“We already know (and complain loudly about) Anthropic training its models on user inputs. Do you really want training inputs to include ‘users act cruelly for no reason and receive pleasure from it?’” he wrote.

Studies have also shown that the tone of a user’s prompts can also affect an AI’s behavior, said Professor Jindong Wang, director of the AI frontier lab at William and Mary University."

Parents of woman who died of seizure after ChatGPT misguidance sue OpenAI; The Guardian, November 1, 2026

 Eric Berger, The Guardian; Parents of woman who died of seizure after ChatGPT misguidance sue OpenAI

"A woman’s death from an epileptic seizure after she received dangerous advice from a chatbot has prompted her parents to sue OpenAI earlier this week.

The legal action is the latest lawsuit that in which plaintiffs allege that a bot provided counsel to a user that ultimately led to their death.

In this case, Bowen Wan, a 31-year-old Chinese software engineer living in Seattle, sought advice from ChatGPT after Amazon fired her, according to the lawsuit.

She needed to find a new job to obtain permanent residency and was concerned that her anti-seizure medication, Lamotrigine, was impeding her ability to speak English. She needed the language skills for interviews...

The plaintiffs allege that OpenAI could have prevented Wan’s death, but failed because it had not built the proper safeguards into the bot when it communicated in Chinese.

OpenAI could have programmed the bot to issue “a categorical warning to every prompt” Wan sent, the suit stated. For example, “I am not a licensed physician. Consult your healthcare provider.”

Wan’s parents are seeking damages for her death and to prevent OpenAI from practicing medicine “without a license on the users of their products”.

An OpenAI spokesperson, Drew Pusateri, told the New York Times that Bowen’s story was “an incredibly heartbreaking situation” but that Wan used a version of ChatGPT that was no longer available.

Newer versions are better at recognizing when a matter needs urgent attention, Pusateri said."