Bernie Sanders and AOC propose a ban on building data centers

The explosion of new data center projects in the United States has led to a growing backlash against AI-enabled infrastructure. Two influential politicians are now proposing a ban on any new data centers with peak power loads exceeding 20 megawatts.

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York are introducing companion legislation in their chambers today that would halt projects until Congress enacts comprehensive regulation of artificial intelligence.

Sanders’ office points to statements from a variety of prominent tech figures who have discussed their concerns about artificial intelligence and called for stricter rules or pausing development. These include Elon Musk (who said, “AI is much more dangerous than nuclear weapons. Why shouldn’t we have any regulatory oversight?”), Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton.

A Pew Research Center poll conducted in March found that a majority of Americans are more concerned about artificial intelligence than enthusiastic about it, with only 10% of those surveyed saying their enthusiasm exceeds their concern. However, massive political spending by AI companies and fears of losing the AI ​​arms race with China may make such legislation difficult to enact.

This bill may be viewed as an eye-opening demonstration of what AI regulation should look like. The two lawmakers want the US government to review and certify models before releasing them, enact protections against job displacement due to AI, limit the environmental impact of data infrastructure, and require union labor in its construction. They are also seeking to ban the export of advanced chips to countries that do not have similar rules — which at this point is most of them.