Well, that escalated quickly. After the GOP took a beating in the midterm elections, a cloud of uncertainty has settled over billionaire Elon Musk's data-center and AI ambitions in the U.S. And one Lithuanian lawmaker has spotted an opening, pitching his country as a European alternative to Texas.

A Parliament Member Makes His Pitch

Matas Maldeikis, a member of the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats who has served in the country's parliament since 2020, took to X on Thursday to invite Musk to consider Lithuania for his next big AI infrastructure investment.

"Now that Texas may be preparing to show your data centers the exit, Lithuania is ready to offer them a new home in Europe," Maldeikis said. He was "personally" inviting Musk to consider Lithuania as his "next major AI infrastructure investment."

Then came the sales pitch, delivered with a straight face: "Lithuania may be smaller than Texas, but in ambition, creativity and opportunity, we are second to none. Not even Texas."

The country, he said, is open for "ambitious investments, disruptive ideas and powerful technology." But the MP attached one condition to any Musk compute buildout. "Here, democracy isn't for sale," he said.

Why Texas Suddenly Looks Shaky

The offer lands as midterm results, which saw the Democratic Party gain ground, cast doubts over AI development efforts, particularly in Texas, where both Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: SPCX) and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) are headquartered.

Musk spent heavily backing Republicans in the midterms, including a $158 million donation to the Senate Leadership Fund, the main Republican Senate super PAC. The group subsequently transferred matching sums to Texas PAC, which supported Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton. Musk also separately donated $10 million to Lone Star Liberty PAC, another group supporting Paxton.

Notably, Senator-elect James Talarico, as well as Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa, have both expressed reservations about data centers. However, following the results, both Talarico and Hinojosa have indicated that they would be willing to work with tech companies to reach an agreement over data centers.

So the door isn't slammed shut in Texas. It's just that the people holding it open now want a word first. Which is exactly the kind of moment a smaller, ambitious country with a parliament member and an X account can exploit.

Price Action

TSLA shares were up 1.25% to $347.99 during overnight trading on Thursday, while SPCX shares also grew 2.32% to $126.49 during the overnight session.