Bernie Sanders demands data centers to slow down AI: ‘Fearful of a lot’
Sen. Bernie Sanders is calling for a moratorium on energy facilities powering AI’s explosive expansion. CNN
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday called for a temporary halt on data-processing sites used to power artificial intelligence, saying the move is necessary to better understand how to regulate the rapidly growing technology and who ultimately benefits from it.
The 84-year-old Vermont senator warned that the country has not had “the kind of discussion that we need” about how AI advantages the ultra-rich, its economic effects, and its impact 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 a special on AI. “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? What are they gonna do when people have no jobs?”
Data centers are essential to the training and development of AI models, and major tech companies such as Google, OpenAI, and X are racing to build more of them.
Sanders also raised concerns about the environmental and economic costs of these facilities, noting that electricity prices are rising as data centers proliferate. “We’re seeing data centers sprouting all over the country, raising electric bills for people in the communities,” he said.
Earlier this month, Sanders endorsed a national AI moratorium, arguing that democratic oversight must catch up with the technology’s rapid expansion.
By contrast, the Trump administration has embraced AI, framing it as a critical part of the technological competition with China and encouraging tech companies to move quickly. President Trump has appointed David Sacks as his AI and crypto czar and issued an executive order earlier this month aimed at limiting state-level regulation of AI. The order directs the Justice Department to challenge states that attempt to regulate the technology too strictly.
Sanders, expressing concern about AI’s trajectory, accused the administration of being influenced 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. They are a very, very powerful entity, and I think that is one of the reasons why Congress has not been responding effectively.”
Some Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Josh Hawley, have advocated for stricter AI oversight. But Sanders’ call for a moratorium on AI data centers goes further than most other prominent lawmakers.
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