Bernie Sanders and AOC push proposal to halt new data centre construction

The rapid expansion of data centre projects across the United States has triggered increasing pushback over the infrastructure required to support artificial intelligence. Now, two prominent lawmakers are proposing a halt to certain new developments.

Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are introducing companion legislation to ban the construction of new data centres with peak power demands exceeding 20 megawatts. The proposal aims to pause such projects until Congress establishes comprehensive regulations governing AI.

According to Sanders’ office, the initiative draws support from concerns raised by several influential figures in the technology sector. These include Elon Musk, who has warned that AI could be more dangerous than nuclear weapons, as well as Demis Hassabis, Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Geoffrey Hinton, all of whom have expressed varying degrees of concern about the risks associated with advanced AI systems. Public sentiment appears to reflect some of these concerns. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre in March found that more Americans are worried about AI than optimistic about it, with only a small portion of respondents indicating that their excitement outweighs their concerns.

Despite this, the path to passing such legislation may prove challenging. Significant political spending by AI companies, combined with concerns about maintaining a competitive edge in an AI race with China, could complicate efforts to impose strict limits on data centre expansion.

The proposed bill is being positioned as an initial framework for broader AI regulation. It calls for federal oversight that would include reviewing and certifying AI models before release, implementing safeguards against job losses from automation, reducing the environmental impact of large-scale computing infrastructure, and mandating the use of union labour in data centre construction projects.

Additionally, the legislation seeks to restrict the export of advanced semiconductor chips to countries that do not adopt similar regulatory standards. This move would affect most nations under current conditions.