Bernie Sanders and AOC propose a ban on data center construction

The explosion of new data center projects in the U.S. has led to a growing backlash against the infrastructure that powers AI. Two influential politicians are now proposing a ban on any new data centers with peak power loads in excess of 20 megawatts.

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

Sanders’ office points to remarks from a variety of tech luminaries who have discussed their fears of AI and called for stricter rules or pauses on development. These include Elon Musk (who has said “AI is far more dangerous than nukes. So why do we have no regulatory oversight?”), Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Nobel Prize-winner Geoffrey Hinton.

A March Pew Research poll found that a majority of Americans are more concerned than excited about AI, with just 10% of those surveyed saying their excitement outweighed their concern. However, massive political spending by AI companies and fears of losing an AI arms race with China may make such legislation difficult to enact.

This bill might be seen as an opening bid for what AI regulation should look like. The two lawmakers want the U.S. government to review and certify models ahead of their release, enact protections against AI-driven job displacement, limit the environmental impact of data infrastructure, and require union labor in its construction. They also seek to prohibit the export of advanced chips to countries without similar rules — which, at this point, is most of them.