Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has called for a halt to the construction of artificial intelligence (AI) data center, claiming the technology is developing too quickly and is creating environmental problems.
“I will be pushing for a moratorium on the construction of data centers that are powering the unregulated sprint to develop & deploy AI,” said Sanders on his Senate office’s X account. “The moratorium will give democracy a chance to catch up, and ensure that the benefits of technology work for all of us, not just the 1%.”
In a video accompanying his posting, Sanders acknowledged that “AI and robotics are the most transformative technologies in the history of humanity and will have a profound impact on the lives of every man, woman and child in our country.” But he also insisted “the wealthiest people on Earth” were pushing this technology and claimed that “these very, very rich men want more wealth and more power.”
On Sanders’ personal X account, another video hosted by Simon Rosenblum-Larson, an organizer with Friends of Bernie Sanders, that pointed to alleged skyrocketing electric bills and excessive water usage by data centers that will only create relatively few jobs in the communities where they are built.
“In the next two years, AI data centers will not only cause electric bills to soar, but are expected to generate the same emissions as driving over 300 billion miles — or 1,600 round trips to the sun from Earth,” Sanders wrote. “We need a moratorium on the construction of new AI data centers.”
Photo via Sen. Sanders’ social media pages
Not to be negative but …. Data Centers are going to become our new Pearl Harbors… What easy crippling targets. A moratorium is a good idea relative to identifying the issues and solutions not only environmentally but also securing the sites from nefarious acts and potential attacks. Food for thought.
Yes I agree with Bernie Sanders to have a moratorium. I know of one data center, scheduled to be built, will supplement their energy with solar panel fields to offset its huge consumption. However, I don’t like that it will employ only a few hundred once it has been built with the campus expanding up to 1000 acres. A lot of acres for such a small workforce.
This is one time when I agree with Mr. Sanders. It’s too soon and the “regular” population is not the least bit ready.
I’m no fan of AI. Already it is too disruptive. It changes my spelling on Facebook that pisses me off. We unfortunately don’t know the extend of the employment damage it will bring until it arrives. If we as a country slowed or stopped its progress then somewhere else in the world would greatly benefit and dominate this space. I’m for “ultra energy efficient constriction” like R-70 ceilings and R-50 sidewalls. I’m for a water system tied to deep wells and a closed loop system of retrieval and re-injection. I’m for closed loop geothermal for its mostly cooling and too. The heat in the winter can be recaptured into radiant warm/hot water heating as needed. I’m for a roof top & side yard solar panel system to supplement its electricity usages. These will lower its electricity and cooling costs dramatically. The costs will be initially very expensive but in the long run they will be amortized. I’m probably asking too much but these server farms as asking a lot too!