The explosion of new data center projects in the United States is fueling a backlash against the infrastructure that supports AI. Two influential politicians are currently proposing a ban on new data centers with peak power loads greater than 20 megawatts.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York are introducing companion bills in their respective chambers today that would halt the project until Congress enacts comprehensive AI regulations.
Sanders’ office points to statements from various tech luminaries who have discussed concerns about AI and called for stricter rules or a moratorium on development. They include Elon Musk (who has said, “AI is far more dangerous than nuclear power. So why is there no regulatory oversight?”), Google DeepMind head Demis Hassabis, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Nobel laureate Jeffrey Hinton.
A Pew Research poll in March found that a majority of Americans were more concerned than excited about AI, with only 10% of those surveyed saying their excitement outweighed their concerns. But enacting such legislation could be difficult due to massive political spending by AI companies and concerns about losing an AI arms race with China.
This bill could be seen as a prelude to what AI regulation should look like. They are calling on the U.S. government to review and certify models before they are released, enact safeguards against AI-induced displacement, limit the environmental impact of data infrastructure, and require union labor to build it. They are also trying to ban exports of advanced chips to countries that don’t have similar rules, most of which currently have similar rules.
tech crunch event
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October 13-15, 2026
