Detroit, Michigan, U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed speaks at Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Fight the Oligarchy” rally.
Jim West | UCG | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate for the Democratic nomination in Michigan’s Aug. 4 Senate primary, sees fundamental risks in the rise of artificial intelligence. And he bets that concerns related to emerging technologies and the data centers that support them could play a pivotal role in this race.
“There’s literally no conversation, no pause, no talk about data centers being AI,” El-Sayed told CNBC. “This is an issue that we’re hearing about everywhere, but as usual, Washington, D.C., is one of the issues that has been slower to pay attention to than other parts of the country.”
Mr. El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and former public health official, is part of a cadre of left-wing Democratic candidates trying to sway establishment candidates, some of whom have made strides in recent weeks in New York and Colorado. And like many progressives, El-Sayed has advocated a more anti-tech stance on AI and data centers than his opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, a moderate with the tacit support of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.N.Y.).
Close races are crucial if Democrats want to flip the Senate. El-Sayed and Stevens are seeking to defend the seat vacated by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. The winner of the primary will face Republican former Congressman Mike Rogers in the general election. The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter calls the race a “disastrous failure.”
This can be seen as a battle in a large-scale civil war that will shake up the Democratic Party, with progressives and moderates vying for leadership. And the disagreement between El-Sayed and Stevens over AI and data centers could serve as a test case for Democrats in how they message on the issue going forward.
“There are a lot of people in a lot of places who are trying to draw lessons from the results of this election,” said Tyler Simko, an associate professor of political science at the University of Michigan. “People will try to reason about the feasibility of this kind of progressive discussion about data centers and AI.”
new technology and old technology
While Michigan isn’t in the top 10 for AI data centers (one public database says the state currently has 77 in operation, with more planned), anti-data center sentiment appears to be growing in the state. Several recent opinion polls have found that concerns about AI in general are increasing nationwide.
Elsayed says he has a plan.
In January, he announced “terms and conditions” for the data center. Mr. El-Sayed stopped short of calling for a moratorium on development, as some of his supporters, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (R-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), have recently done. But he has vowed to impose tough guardrails on their development, including job guarantees, no utility price hikes and environmental protections.
And earlier this month, he announced a multifaceted package of policies to rein in AI, including public ownership of technology, paying AI dividends to the public, forcing the divestment of AI developers from big tech companies, and new taxes on AI automation.
“The idea that the world’s largest corporations, billionaires who are accountable to no one, should be allowed to develop technologies that could fundamentally change the nature of the human experience without democratic oversight is absurd to me,” El-Sayed said. “AI may be a new technology, but democracy is an old technology. And I believe that old technology holds new technology accountable.”
Meanwhile, Stevens, who has represented Michigan’s 11th Congressional District since 2019, has not said much.
A spokeswoman noted that she is the top Democrat on the House Research and Technology Subcommittee and served on the bipartisan House AI Task Force last Congress.
On Tuesday, May 6, 2025, Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., speaks at a rally on the west front of the U.S. Capitol to support breast cancer treatment research and policies that are at risk from proposed Medicaid cuts.
Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call Inc. | Getty Images
She also co-led legislation to promote research to identify deepfakes (signed in 2020) and helped draft the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which aims to invest in AI safety programs and boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
Her campaign says Stevens is taking a four-pronged approach to addressing AI risks. This includes expanding labor training to protest unemployment, maintaining human control of AI technology, and ensuring that algorithms are not used to discriminate in areas such as employment, education, and housing.
Regarding data centers, Stevens’ campaign said they are working to ensure they create union jobs while not leading to higher utility costs.
“The Legislature must take concrete steps to ensure that no Michigan job is lost and no Michigander faces rising costs due to artificial intelligence,” Stevens said in an emailed statement. “I want to reduce costs and create Michigan jobs.” “As our world and Michigan’s economy adapt to new technology, I will always fight to protect workers, create good-paying union jobs, and stand up for Michigan families.”
Her campaign did not make her available for an interview for this article.
“Left of Bernie”
As much as AI and data centers are on the minds of some voters, Michigan’s Senate race won’t hinge solely on those issues.
El-Sayed and Stevens have been fighting over medical care. El-Sayed advocates for universal Medicare and co-authored a book on the topic in 2021, while Stevens has advocated for expanding the Affordable Care Act and creating a government-run health insurance program.
He suggested that El-Sayed tried to extort corporate money from Stevens throughout the campaign, which may explain her relatively moderate stance on AI.
“It’s not clear in that campaign that they’re actually advancing their own ideas on how to deal with these issues, and they’re also receiving funding from all the companies that are involved in the issue, so it’s no wonder they don’t have anything constructive to say on the issue,” El-Sayed said.
He has also repeatedly attacked Stevens for supporting Israel and receiving significant campaign contributions from pro-Israel groups.
Meanwhile, Stevens cast El-Sayed as an extremist and propaganda hound. El-Sayed has a penchant for creating viral social media videos, which have drawn comparisons to those of New York City Mayor and fellow leftist Zoran Mamdani. She characterizes herself as the more experienced candidate and the one most likely to beat Mr. Rogers in this November’s general election.
“I’m not trying to sell books or podcasts,” Stevens said in his opening remarks at Tuesday’s debate. “I’m the only person on this stage that doesn’t have a talent agent trying to sell me for paid speaking engagements. And unlike my opponent, I’m not running to the first microphone or camera I see.”
Tuesday’s debate marked the first time Mr. El-Sayed and Mr. Stevens faced off since the contest became a two-way race. Stevens said during the debate that data centers should pay their fair share, but he also wants Michigan to be “at the forefront of innovation and manufacturing.”
“I’ve visited hundreds of manufacturing sites. They’re using this technology. We want jobs. We can’t afford to force that cost on workers,” Stevens said.
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who presented her own detailed plan for AI safety and data centers earlier this year, suspended her campaign on July 5. She has said she would not support a direct election, where post-debate polls show a virtual tie.
However, just days before canceling his campaign, McMorrow harshly criticized El-Sayed’s AI proposal in an interview with CNBC.
“I saw headlines about Bernie’s plans for a candidate to the left of AI on AI. That might be good for a Democratic primary, but I don’t think it’s particularly realistic either,” McMorrow said. “There seems to be an attempt to just go to the far left.”
McMorrow and other critics have questioned the feasibility of El-Sayed’s proposals, which include 50% public ownership and direct payments to Americans, as well as expanded unemployment benefits and the establishment of a Food and Drug Administration-style safety testing laboratory within the federal government to test emerging AI technologies.
Some argue that such regulations could stifle innovation and put the United States at a disadvantage in the AI race, instead strengthening foreign competitors such as China.
El-Sayed dismissed these claims. He countered that the far left plan would be full ownership, rather than the 50% he is proposing. And, if properly enacted, he believes his proposal would hold big corporations accountable while preserving America’s competitiveness.
“I think this is a technology that has the potential to change the world. We can use this as a yoke to do really amazing things for humanity, or we can do things that are really dangerous to humanity,” El-Sayed said. “My concern is not with the technology itself, but with the incentives that drive the development of the technology. And those incentives now are there to maximize returns.”
