Reported by BBC Business
Major tech firms including Nvidia, SpaceX and Tesla have lost hundreds of billions of dollars in market value, a day after the Democrats swept to victory in the midterms.
Shares in firms across the tech and artificial intelligence sectors plummeted, partly driven by concerns of tougher regulation following Democrat wins in key data centre states including Texas, Ohio and Georgia.
Those losses dragged the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite stock index down by more than 5.5%, its deepest one-day drop in 19 months, while other key US stock indexes also fell.
More from the original report
Following the election, some tech leaders said they needed to put more effort into marketing data centres and AI.
Democrats in races across the US campaigned against data centres and AI, and there were dozens of measures on ballots around the country aimed at restricting the development of the hubs crucial for powering the technology.
Texas governor-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned heavily against data centres, pledging a moratorium on new construction in the sector.
Shares in companies heavily exposed to AI data centres, including crucial chipmakers and semiconductor manufacturers, fell sharply on Thursday, highlighting investor concerns that had already been growing.
Nvidia shares slid more than 9%, knocking more than $400m off the firm's market value.
Other chipmakers also suffered, with AMD and Micron both dropping by more than 17%. Intel shares also dropped, down 10.3%, while memory card maker SanDisk plunged more than 22%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks the performance of 30 of the largest companies involved in semiconductor production, fell by more than 12%.
Shares in Elon Musk's companies SpaceX and Tesla also plunged, falling 8% and nearly 11% respectively and shaving more than $300m off the firms' market value on Thursday.
Musk had spent nearly $450m backing Republican campaigns, including at least $45m in support of Ken Paxton for the Texas senate seat, but Texas was turned blue in the Democratic tsunami on Tuesday night.
The stock falls also hit other major US stock indexes. The S&P 500 index fell by 4.4% by the end of trading, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased gains made on…