AI Relies on Data Centers. Bernie Sanders and AOC Want To Freeze Their Construction. |
Artificial Intelligence
AI Relies on Data Centers. Bernie Sanders and AOC Want To Freeze Their Construction.
This heavy-handed legislation would harm Americans, not protect them.
Jack Nicastro | 3.26.2026 10:35 AM
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(Richard Swafford/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom/Midjourney)
In December, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) took to Instagram, where he proposed freezing the construction of data centers. Now the progressive senator is hoping to turn his social media rant into a law.
On Wednesday, Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.) announced the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act. The bill would prohibit "the construction or upgrading of all new AI data center projects until Congress passes comprehensive AI legislation that ensures the safety and prosperity of the American people."
Should the bill pass, the moratorium could only be lifted if Congress passed legislation requiring AI products to be reviewed by the federal government before they are released; preventing AI job displacement; requiring union labor for data center construction; empowering Americans to approve or reject the construction or upgrading of AI data centers in their local communities; prohibiting increased electric bills for consumers and harm to the environment; instituting a litany of data reporting requirements; and mandating the wealth generated by AI companies to be shared with the American people.
Sanders said the "moratorium will give us the time........