In a Guardian opinion column, Jonathan Liew argues that big tech banked on Donald Trump and lost the 2026 midterms, where Democrats won seats on anti-datacentre tickets, 46 of 47 datacentre ballot measures were defeated, and markets sold off tech stocks. He also mocks Keir Starmer's pledge to test AI before regulating it, criticises the UK's AI growth zones policy, and forecasts the datacentre issue will rise in democratic salience in Britain.