Musk jokes about GOP losses after spending big in midterms

Tech mogul Elon Musk joked about the GOP’s steep losses early Wednesday, after spending more than $442 million boosting Republicans in the midterm elections.

Democrats swept control of both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, winning competitive races across the board and even ousting Republicans in several races viewed as long shots.

“Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time,” Musk wrote on the social platform X , which he owns.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO spent heavily during this election cycle, easily surpassing the sizable sum the trillionaire poured into the 2024 presidential elections. Musk, the world’s richest person, had largely stayed out of the political scene before the last election.

Much of his funds were directed toward boosting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) in his Senate race to replace Sen. John Cornyn (R). Paxton ultimately lost to Democrat James Talarico on Tuesday night, marking the first statewide win for Democrats in the Lone Star State in decades.

Musk gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC backing GOP Senate candidates, which was almost immediately disbursed to a Texas super PAC supporting Paxton.

He also poured money into America PAC, the super PAC he launched during the 2024 elections. The technology executive gave $76.8 million in October alone, on top of the $76 million he contributed to the super PAC between July and September.

“Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now,” Musk added in a separate X post early Wednesday.

Since merging SpaceX and xAI, the billionaire has increasingly touted the possibility of putting data centers in space , suggesting it could be a solution for developing the additional computing power needed for AI without dealing with the controversies of the build-out .

Americans have grown wary of the push to rapidly build new data centers over the past year amid concerns about the impact on energy costs and the environment.

In response to this rising backlash, some policymakers are pushing for a moratorium on new data center construction. This includes Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for Texas governor who ousted incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Tuesday.