Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez push bill to impose AI data center moratorium

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two high-profile progressive lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday that would pause new data centers in the United States until national safeguards are in place to protect workers and consumers and ensure the technologies don’t harm the environment.

The legislation by Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is unlikely to advance in either the House or Senate, but it shows the deep concerns many progressives share about the growing impact of data centers and artificial intelligence.

Communities across the country have seen a backlash against data centers over fears about rising electricity prices and concerns about pollution and water consumption. Opposition to rising power prices was also a key factor in Democratic wins last year in elections in states including Georgia, Virginia and New Jersey.

Although advances in artificial intelligence are seen by President Donald Trump and other leaders as critical to the nation’s economic and national security, their growing energy needs are threatening to overwhelm the power grid. Trump has sought to deflect public concerns about AI, inviting major technology companies to the White House earlier this month to commit to developing their own power generation.

“They need some PR help because people think that if a data center goes in there, electricity prices are going to go up,” Trump said.

Voters need far more than voluntary assurances from “Big Tech oligarchs” as they confront “the most profound technological revolution in world history,” Sanders said Wednesday.

Changes from AI and robotics will impact the U.S. economy and American democracy as well as “our privacy rights, our emotional well-being, our environment and even our very survival as human beings on this planet,” he said at a news conference at the Capitol, adding, “Congress is way behind where it should be in understanding the nature of this revolution and its impacts.”

A moratorium will give lawmakers, business leaders and others time to understand the risks of AI and data centers, protect working families and democracy and ensure the technology works for all Americans, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez said.

U.S. electricity consumption hit a record high in 2024 and is expected to keep rising as data centers continue to expand at a rapid pace. A typical AI-focused data center consumes as much electricity as 100,000 households.

Ocasio-Cortez said big tech companies are seeking “endless energy” and “are now so desperate to profit off the AI boom that they are racing to construct thousands of giant AI data centers and jacking up the utility costs of everyday Americans to pay for it.”

“Congress has a moral obligation to stand with the American people and stop Big Tech from ruining their communities,” she said.

Most lawmakers of both parties have rejected the idea of a moratorium.

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said he agreed with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s warning that a moratorium on data centers amounts to waving a “surrender flag” to China. “I refuse to help hand the lead in AI to China,” Fetterman wrote on X.

The Data Center Coalition, an industry group, said data centers “power modern life — from telehealth and digital classrooms to banking, air travel, financial transactions and online shopping.”

A moratorium “would limit internet capacity, slow critical services, eliminate hundreds of thousands of high-wage jobs, drain billions in local tax revenue and raise costs for American families and small businesses,” said Cy McNeill, the coalition’s senior director of federal affairs.

The White House said last week that Congress should “preempt state AI laws” that it views as too burdensome, laying out a broad framework for how it wants Congress to address concerns about AI without curbing growth or innovation in the sector.

The legislative blueprint outlines a half-dozen guiding principles for lawmakers, focusing on protecting children, preventing electricity costs from surging, respecting intellectual property rights, preventing censorship and educating Americans on using the technology.

Companies that committed to Trump’s pledge to protect ratepayers include Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI and Amazon. The companies agreed to build or buy new sources of power generation for their data centers and cover the expense of infrastructure upgrades.