The midweek: Nov 4

November 1–4: voters made data centers a ballot issue and Texas elected a governor who promised a moratorium. Anthropic opened its books. The AI PACs spent and lost. Uber counted four agent rides. By heat, not by day.

1. The ballot came for the data centers

In an NBC exit poll, 56% of voters called data centers a crucial or major factor in their vote for Congress. Local "restrict" measures won 38 of 39 completed counts. Texas, with about 27% of planned U.S. data center gigawatts, elected Gina Hinojosa governor on a moratorium pledge. Wells Fargo called it a possible "left-tail event to the AI trade." CoreWeave fell about 7% overnight. The catch, per MIT Technology Review: no single office decides, and unions backed some of the winners. See the Oct 28 pause map; Energy.

2. Anthropic opened its books

In an SEC filing Monday, Anthropic said it expects to spend more than $895 billion on commitments in the coming years. Quarterly revenue hit $17 billion, up from $1.4 billion a year earlier. The net loss was $23.3 billion. Its IPO filing says it "may not achieve or sustain profitability." Per The AI Report, it also says it "may imminently meet" its own threshold for AI-accelerated progress. No model has crossed it. See the profitability crisis; what safety means now.

3. The PACs spent and lost

Leading the Future, the pro-industry network backed by Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI’s Greg Brockman, started with about $100 million and left with just over $20 million, per Wired. It then mostly backed safe seats. Its PACs spent $4.8 million for South Carolina's Darline Graham, who lost. Anthropic-backed Public First called the night "a crushing blow" to the industry. Sen. Ron Wyden's reaction: "Subpoenas." See the backlash; Ethics & Governance.

4. Agents haven't reached the checkout

Uber said four rides were ordered through an AI agent in its busiest week of October, out of about 320 million trips and orders. Uber Eats got 500 agent orders. "Very, very early and very limited traction," said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Apple's filing warned agents "may behave in unintended or unpredictable ways." Walmart opened its door in the Oct 21 midweek; Agentic AI.

5. Astra designed a device

OpenAI said Wednesday that GPT-6 Astra designed every part of a voice device for Codex — enclosure, circuit board, UI and software — without direct human edits. Two staff built it in under a week; prototypes came back in under a month. Astra still missed the manufacturer's production limits. Hardware-team usage is up 23-fold since February, to 212 million tokens per employee per day. Hardware.

Already covered

The pause register and Texas's permit halt: the Oct 28 report and the October review.

The point

Monday the bill came due: $895 billion. Tuesday the voters answered. Wednesday Uber counted four agent rides. The build is political now. The demand is still a rounding error.