Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have introduced legislation designed to halt construction on AI data centers, claiming they are a threat to democracy and humanity.
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Data Center Moratorium Act would enact an immediate federal moratorium on these facilities until Washington can guarantee the AI industry is not “releasing harmful products into the world that threaten the health and well-being of working families, our privacy and civil rights and the future of humanity.”
The legislation seeks to determined that AI data centers will not increase utility prices for consumers or destroy the environment, and it bans US exports of AI computing infrastructure to countries that do not have safeguards framing this technology.
“AI and robotics are creating the most sweeping technological revolution in the history of humanity,” said Sanders. “The scale, scope and speed of that change is unprecedented. Congress is way behind where it should be in understanding the nature of this revolution and its impacts. Bottom line: We cannot sit back and allow a handful of billionaire Big Tech oligarchs to make decisions that will reshape our economy, our democracy and the future of humanity. We need serious public debate and democratic oversight over this enormously consequential issue. The time for action is now. We need a federal moratorium on AI data centers.”
Ocasio-Cortez added, “We have seen ICE partner with AI companies to surveil Americans, social media users employ AI bots to create sexually explicit deepfakes of women and children, and data center construction inflate electric bills in communities across the country. And all of this harm has occurred because of the absence of federal legislation to regulate AI. Congress has a moral obligation to stand with the American people and stop the expansion of these data centers until we have a framework to adequately address the existential harm AI poses to our society. We must choose humanity over profit.”
The lawmakers cited Elon Musk’s quote from December where he said he has “a lot of AI nightmares” and would “certainly slow down AI and robotics” if he could. However, Musk, who leads xAI, has not endorsed this new legislation.
Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore / Flickr Creative Commons
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