Elon Musk's $474 Million Midterm Bet Bought Silence, Not Wins

Elon Musk spent roughly $474 million on the 2026 midterms — a record sum, about $300 million more than the next-biggest donors, Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, according to The New York Times — and walked away with almost nothing to show for it.

Nearly half of Musk's nationwide donations went to losing Republican candidates in his adopted home state of Texas, according to the Times tally. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO responded to the Democrats' blue wave on November 4 with sarcasm: "Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn't work this time." As results poured in, he deleted his "Vote red today!" post on X and replaced it with "Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now."

Who is talking — and who is not?

Almost a week after the November 3 election, Musk remains one of the few prominent Silicon Valley figures who backed Trump and his Republican allies to publicly acknowledge the Democrats' sweeping victories. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang — all past Trump donors — have yet to comment publicly on the results.

Nvidia and Apple each previously gave $25 million toward Trump's Washington ballroom, Reuters reported in October. That largesse now buys no visible commentary on the party's defeat.

What does the election mean for AI infrastructure?

Some tech executives have addressed what the results mean for their businesses, particularly the AI infrastructure boom. Voters rejected local measures supporting data center construction in 40 out of 41 instances — a near-total rebuke at the ballot box.

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said on November 6 that the company would keep investing in AI data centers regardless. "When I think about the midterms, I need to keep thinking about how do we keep investing to meet that customer demand," Friar said, according to CNBC. "It starts early with having built relationships with all of the hyperscalers, and it will continue to mean that we raise capital."

The day before, OpenAI announced a commitment to pay for its own data centers, protect local resources, issue impact reports, and create local economic opportunities. The company billed the initiative as "Setting a new standard for responsible AI infrastructure" — a move seemingly designed to ease concerns among communities and policymakers wary of AI buildout. Whether the pledge changes any minds in the 40 jurisdictions that just voted no remains untested.

Box CEO Aaron Levie told CNBC the results could raise questions about where data centers get built and how AI supply chains operate.

Why the silence marks a change from 2024

When Trump won the 2024 presidential election, many of the same tech leaders rushed to congratulate him, often on Musk's X.

"Congrats to President Trump," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted at the time. "I wish for his huge success in the job. It is critically important that the US maintains its lead in developing AI with democratic values."

Pichai wrote: "Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump on his decisive victory. We are in a golden age of American innovation and are committed to working with his administration to help bring the benefits to everyone." Apple's then-CEO Tim Cook said, "We look forward to engaging with you and your administration to help make sure the United States continues to lead with and be fueled by ingenuity, innovation, and creativity." Zuckerberg posted on Threads: "We have great opportunities ahead of us as a country. Looking forward to working with you and your administration."

The contrast is stark: congratulations flowed within hours in 2024; in 2026, condolences are nowhere.

Which Silicon Valley figures did celebrate?

Not everyone stayed quiet. LinkedIn cofounder and Democratic donor Reid Hoffman wrote on X: "Voters made clear they demand a different kind of country. Americans want an economy that can compete globally and deliver for them at home. And they made clear that they want leaders they can trust to fight for their constituents."

Hoffman donated about $16.5 million to James Talarico's successful Senate campaign in Texas, per the Times. He also gave nearly $9 million to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, where Democrat David Crowley won the governorship.

Lane Kasselman, co-CEO of Blockchain and a former Hillary Clinton campaign staffer, wrote: "Contrary to how it's portrayed in the media, people across the political spectrum have a lot more in common than they might think." He added: "I'm proud to see pragmatism win in Texas. And with the most pro-crypto Congress in history, there's a real opportunity to build on that pragmatism in Washington."

Richard Branson took aim at his fellow billionaires in a LinkedIn post: "As a successful entrepreneur, I have felt embarrassed by the billions that tech entrepreneurs and hedge fund managers have spent on—mostly Republican—campaigns this election cycle, in an attempt to buy influence and control over public policy."

What comes next for Big Tech in Washington?

The election carries significant consequences for Silicon Valley as Democrats take control of Congress and questions mount over the AI industry's enormous infrastructure ambitions. The industry has shifted sharply to the right in recent years, but the loudest voices of that shift now have little to say about the party's sweeping defeat — a silence that will grow harder to maintain as a Democratic Congress takes up AI policy.