Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday called for a moratorium on data-processing sites used to fuel AI to get a better grasp on regulating the burgeoning technology and how it benefits the 1 Percent.
The 84-year-old lefty from Vermont warned that the country has not had the “kind of discussion that we need” to reflect on how the ultra-rich are benefiting from artificial intelligence and the technology’s other economic ramifications, as well as its effects on children.
“I think we need to be thinking seriously about a moratorium on these data centers,” Sanders told CNN’s “State of the Union” during an AI special.
“Frankly, I think you gotta slow this process down. It’s not good enough for the oligarchs to tell us, ‘It’s coming, you adapt.’ What are they talking about?” he said. “What are they gonna do when people have no jobs?”
Data centers are crucial to the training and development of AI models, and tech giants such as Google, OpenAI and X are racing to build more of them.
Another grievance Sanders has with the AI centers is their impact on the environment and electricity prices, which have begun to rise across the country.
“We’re seeing data centers sprouting all over the country, raising electric bills for people in the communities,” he stressed.
The Vermont senator had endorsed a national AI moratorium earlier this month, similarly arguing that democracy needs to catch up to the novel technology.
In sharp contrast to Sanders’ grave concerns about AI, the Trump administration has opted to embrace the technology, framing it as an arms race with China and encouraging tech giants to feverishly pursue it.
Trump, who has made David Sacks his AI and crypto czar, took executive action earlier this month aimed at undercutting states from regulating the nascent technology too aggressively.
The executive order tasked the Justice Department with filing lawsuits against states that crack down on AI. It came after repeated failures to pass a moratorium on state-level AI regulation in Congress.
Noting at one point that he’s “fearful of a lot” when it comes to AI, Sanders accused the Trump administration of being bought off by Big Tech.
“Look, Elon Musk himself contributed over $270 million to elect Donald Trump the president,” Sanders said. “These guys have now come up with their super PACs to try to make sure that there is no regulation.
“So, yes, they are a very, very powerful entity. And I think that is one of the reasons why Congress has not been responding effectively.”
Some prominent Republicans, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) have pushed for more aggressive regulation of AI, also.
But Sanders’ call for a moratorium on AI data centers goes further than most other top pols.
