Ken Paxton Unveils Plan to Prevent ‘Negative Impact’ of AI Data Centers on Texas

Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton released an AI data center plan Monday, calling for federal legislation to block Chinese technology in the facilities and criminal liability for centers that power AI chatbots harming children.

The Washington Post reports that the four-point plan, announced as Paxton campaigns for U.S. Senate, stops short of calling for a moratorium on new data center projects. It also endorses the data center plan Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced earlier in August 2026, under which the Republican governor paused new data center approvals until companies agree to limits on electricity, water and other resource use.

“Texans deserve a fighter to lead and represent them as we address the growing presence of data centers in Texas and stop their negative impact on our neighborhoods,” Paxton said in the statement. “This plan will ensure that happens while putting Texas first, protecting our culture and land, and safeguarding our families and communities.” Paxton added that his plan “will also work to ensure that data centers are not utilized to power AI platforms that endanger our children.”

Brendan Steinhauser, a Texas GOP strategist and chief executive of the Alliance for Secure AI, a nonprofit focused on public education about AI’s implications, said the plan “helps him politically” but questioned whether its enforcement mechanisms would work in practice. “The chatbot part might be a bit difficult to figure out, technically,” he said.

Steinhauser said opposition to data centers has become one of the few issues uniting Texans across the political spectrum. “You go to very progressive downtown Austin and they’re saying similar things to rural Fayette County,” he said. He described a growing willingness among Republicans to blame the tech industry for the backlash. “They’re telling Big Tech, it’s your fault,” he said. “They’re going to cut bait.”

Read more at the Washington Post here.