Silicon Valley Got the Midterm Election Forecast Wrong

MIT Technology Review publishes an analysis by Aaron Zamost on why Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Greg Brockman backed Trump's 'Super Intelligence' initiative five weeks before the 2026 midterms, ignoring dozens of polls, and how the AI industry ended up in a political stalemate after the Democrats' victory.

Compiled by Sergey KostenchukPublished 2026-11-13Updated 2026-11-13

2026-11-13 Business

💼 The Valley Missed the Future: The Failure of Election Forecasts

MIT Technology Review publishes an analysis by Aaron Zamost: five weeks before the 2026 midterm elections, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Greg Brockman gathered in the White House to support Trump's 'Super Intelligence' initiative, ignoring dozens of polls. The victorious Democrats directly attacked AI, data centers, and Big Tech—the industry was left in a political stalemate.

🌍 Big Tech tied AI to a single political force, turning it into a cultural-political war. Data center permits and grid connections now depend on the goodwill of the new majority.

👤 A 'vision of the future' does not translate to politics, and lobbying decisions by top executives can slow down data centers and energy grids—on which the availability of AI services depends.

Source 1: https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/11/13/1148498/silicon-valley-claims-to-know-the-future-so-why-did-it-get-the-midterms-so-wrong/

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