Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez push bill to impose AI data center moratorium
[March 26, 2026]
By MATTHEW DALY
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.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez,
D-N.Y., hold a news conference on the Artificial Intelligence Data
Center Moratorium Act, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday,
March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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.
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