Editorial companion

What stands out

PIMCO public policy chief Libby Cantrill argues that state-level restrictions and temporary moratoria on data centers could slow the artificial intelligence (AI) buildout, and she ties that risk to the timing of the midterm elections. The warning matters because data-center approvals, local permitting and grid capacity are the literal gates through which AI hardware must pass; a patchwork of state actions can shift timelines and costs for major cloud and chip spenders, creating policy-driven delays rather than purely market-driven ones.