Billionaires Clash Over Midterms

It's Benzinga, bringing Wall Street to Main Street. America's billionaires are divided over the Democratic midterm sweep and its potential impact on artificial intelligence, according to CNBC. Richard Branson criticized the billions spent influencing elections, while Elon Musk's record political spending failed to secure Republican victories in key Texas races. Investors warned that Democratic opposition to data center construction could threaten the AI boom. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman criticized Elon Musk's political spending while defending his own contributions to Democrats and calling for campaign finance reform. AMD CEO Lisa Su acknowledged growing resistance to AI expansion and urged technology companies to demonstrate how data centers benefit local communities. Wall Street analyst Dan Ives estimated that 10% of planned U.S. data centers would no longer move forward. Wall Street rallied following the Democratic midterm victories on Wednesday. The Dow surged 3%, the S&P 500 gained 1.6%, and the Nasdaq rose 1.4% as investors welcomed political gridlock, reduced uncertainty, and Trump's willingness to accept the results. For all things money, visit Benzinga.com.