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US senator Bernie Sanders has announced a new bill calling for a pause on the construction of new data centers in the United States, alongside Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“In my view, and in the view of people who know a lot more about this issue than I do, we are at the beginning of the most profound technological revolution in world history”, said Sanders.
“Artificial intelligence and robotics will impact our economy, our democracy, our privacy rights, our emotional well being, our environment, and even our very survival as human beings on this planet.
“AI has received far too little serious discussion here in our nation’s capital”, Sanders continued. “I fear that Congress is totally unprepared for the magnitude of the changes that are already taking place”
A key part of Sander’s argument is related to the spread of misinformation, alongside the climate-related impacts: “If people cannot trust what they see and hear, informed decision making becomes nearly possible. It will become harder and harder to distinguish between truth and untruth”, the senator said.
We cannot sit back and allow a handful of billionaire Big Tech oligarchs to make decisions that will reshape… the future of humanity.
Senator Bernie Sanders
“There is also… a significant environmental cost. AI requires enormous computing power, driving the expansion of energy and water intensive data centers, increasing electricity demand and potentially deepening reliance on fossil fuels in the midst of a climate crisis.
“Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and I understand what is at stake”, the senator continued. “That is why today, we are announcing legislation to impose a moratorium on the construction of new AI data centers until strong national safeguards are in place to ensure that AI is safe and effective.
“That means the government reviews and approves AI products before they are released. Further that the economic gains of AI robotics will benefit ordinary Americans and not just the billionaire owners of the industry. Further that AI data centers do not increase electricity or utility prices, harm communities, or destroy the environment.”
The bill would also impose a ban on the export of AI computing hardware to countries without similar protections, including China.
Senator Sanders, an independent, looks to have been laying the groundwork for such a bill for some time. Over the weekend, the senator posted a video of himself debating the issue with Anthropic’s Claude AI chatbot, in which the bot eventually agreed with his overall proposition.
And in February of this year, Sanders released a statement defining some of the principles that have now appeared in his latest proposal.
“Let’s be clear”, Sanders wrote. “AI will likely have a catastrophic impact on the lives of working-class Americans, eliminating tens of millions of blue- and white-collar jobs in every sector of our economy.
“Bottom line: We cannot sit back and allow a handful of billionaire Big Tech oligarchs to make decisions that will reshape our economy, our democracy and the future of humanity. We need serious public debate and democratic oversight over this enormously consequential issue.”
The rapid expansion of US data center infrastructure as a result of the AI boom has been a concern for many for some time. Communities have raised complaints over the environmental impact of facilities like xAI’s Colossus supercomputer in South Memphis and its methane-burning gas turbines, while multiple states have proposed similar data center moratoriums over related concerns.
Meta, meanwhile, has been proposing the construction of gigantic hyperscalers the size of Manhattan, and sticking server racks in tents outside its existing facilities in order to keep up with AI demand. Microsoft has also begun a projected $80 billion AI data center expansion program, while Google is busy spending up to $185 billion on a variety of new facilities, including two new data centers in Texas and Minnesota.
And that’s all without mentioning the $500 billion Stargate project, an OpenAI-led joint venture which aims to build 10 GW of US-based, AI-crunching infrastructure by 2029.
Despite being in the works for some time, Stargate was officially announced by US president Donald Trump in January of this year—and therein lies a problem for senator Sander’s bill. The current US government is massively pro AI and AI infrastructure investment, and the bill would have to pass both the US House and Senate in order to be brought into effect. Both currently hold a Republican majority, although midterm elections are due to take place this November.
In the meantime, then, Sanders efforts have a long way to go if they’re ever to take effect. The AI titan looks to be rumbling ever onwards, and while the good intentions here are clear, it remains to be seen if this new bill stands a snowball’s chance in hell of putting on the brakes.
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