Elon Musk spent a record $474 million on the 2026 midterms and nearly half of it went to losing Republican candidates in Texas — yet a week after Democrats swept the November 3 elections, he remains one of the few prominent Silicon Valley backers of Donald Trump to have publicly acknowledged the result.

"Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn't work this time," Musk wrote sarcastically on X on November 4. As results poured in, he deleted his "Vote red today!" post and replaced it with a new message: "Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now."

Musk's spending dwarfed every other donor in the cycle. The sometimes trillionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX outspent the next-biggest contributors, Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, by roughly $300 million, according to The New York Times. The return on that investment was thin, particularly in his adopted home state of Texas.

What does the tech industry's silence cover?

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang — all past Trump donors — have yet to comment publicly on the Democratic victories. Their silence stands out against their behavior two years ago.

When Trump won the 2024 presidential election, the same executives rushed to congratulate him, often on Musk's own platform. "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 echoed the sentiment: "Congratulations President Trump on your victory! 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 Meta's Threads: "Congratulations to President Trump on a decisive victory. We have great opportunities ahead of us as a country. Looking forward to working with you and your administration."

How are executives addressing the AI infrastructure question?

While Trump's allies have stayed quiet on politics, some tech executives have addressed what the Democratic sweep could mean for their businesses — particularly the AI infrastructure boom, which faces growing local resistance.

Voters rejected ballot measures supporting AI data center construction in 40 out of 41 instances across the country. OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said the company would keep investing in 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 on November 6, 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."

A day earlier, OpenAI announced a new commitment to pay for its own data centers, protect local resources, issue impact reports and create local economic opportunities. The company billed the initiative — seemingly designed to ease concerns among communities and policymakers wary of AI infrastructure — as "Setting a new standard for responsible AI infrastructure."

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

Which tech figures did speak out?

While the tech industry has shifted sharply to the right in recent years, several prominent figures — particularly those who backed Democrats — welcomed the results.

LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, a major Democratic donor, 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, according to The New York Times. He also gave nearly $9 million to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, where Democrat David Crowley won the gubernatorial election.

Lane Kasselman, co-CEO of Blockchain and a former Hillary Clinton campaign staffer, struck a bipartisan note on X: "Contrary to how it's portrayed in the media, people across the political spectrum have a lot more in common than they might think. Whether you're from my home state or my adopted state, most Californians and Texans aren't that different: we love our kids, like clean air, want prices to come down and think Mexican food is awesome."

Kasselman continued: "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."

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson took aim at his fellow billionaires' election spending 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 Silicon Valley?

The election carries significant consequences for the tech industry. Democrats now take control of Congress just as questions mount over the AI industry's enormous infrastructure ambitions.

The industry's Democratic supporters have celebrated openly. The tech leaders who enthusiastically welcomed Trump's return to power in 2024 have had almost nothing to say about his party's sweeping defeat — and Musk's $474 million experiment stands as the cycle's clearest measure of what silence costs.