State-level politics will partially dictate data center development and regulation: BNY - CNBC

Jose Minaya, BNY's Global Head of Investments and Wealth — both of them, bracketed together in one job title like a man who couldn't choose — went on CNBC on 3 November 2026 to confirm that he remains optimistic on AI. Splendid. The concerns about hyperscaler debt are acknowledged in the same breath as being waved through, which is the financial-services equivalent of glancing at the wolf, saying hello to the wolf, and announcing that the walk is going rather well.

The second half is where it gets genuinely funny. State-level politics will, per the headline, "partially dictate" data center development and regulation. Partially. Dictate. Two words that had never been introduced to one another until a research note needed a hedge. Translation for anyone who has ever attended a planning meeting: whether a building the size of a small town gets planted next to your reservoir will now be settled parish by parish, by a zoning board, a county commissioner, and whoever can bear to sit through the Tuesday night session. Democracy in action, at the pace of a parking variance.

And note the order of operations. The debt worry is filed under "recent concerns" — the phrase one uses for a noise complaint. The AI buildout, meanwhile, is described as proceeding with state politics "shaping" it locally, which is what you say when the federal question has been quietly deferred and nobody wants to say so on camera. Corporate optimism, delivered by a man with "Wealth" in his title, in a segment that lasts minutes. We did ask whether this bubble pops in the working class's face; the answer arriving from BNY appears to be that the popping, if any, will be adjudicated municipality by municipality. Bring a folding chair to the public consultation. It is going to be a long one.