Elections news

Opponents win nearly all US data centre votes so far

Voters in 10 US states decided about 40 local questions on November 3. One early count shows 33 limits approved and one measure allowing data centres. In Texas, a candidate who promised a moratorium beat Governor Greg Abbott.

Early results from the US midterm elections show opponents of data centres winning almost every local vote. Ballotpedia counted 41 measures in 10 states before the vote. By 8 a.m. Eastern Time on November 4, Redbud Consulting counted 33 restrictions approved and one measure allowing data centres, Business Insider reports. Counting continues, and some votes are only advisory.

Anthropic bans sustained cruelty towards its Claude models

A new usage policy, in force from November 12, also rewrites Anthropic’s election rules. It drops a blanket ban on personalised campaign targeting and adds a section on fake accounts and influence campaigns.

Anthropic published a new usage policy for Claude on October 8, and it takes effect on November 12. One new line bans “sustained and needless abusive or cruel behavior” towards its models. Anthropic says the rule is meant only for extreme cases. The election section now focuses on deceiving voters, and a new section covers fake accounts.

Microsoft tells voters to check AI answers at the source

The company updated its voter-information campaign for the 2026 US elections. It asks people to open citations, use official local election pages, and treat AI output as a starting point.