CounterPunch+ Exclusives

CounterPunch+ Exclusives

We Need a Federal Moratorium on Data Center Construction

A few months ago, when I proposed a moratorium on AI data centers, it was perceived as a radical, fringe and Luddite idea. Well, not anymore. Today, the mayor of Denver, Colorado, following the lead of city councils and state officials across the country, announced a data center moratorium for his city.

The local officials who are supporting a moratorium are right: data centers will have a profound impact on land and water use, and will drive up electricity costs. Concerns about the very real environmental impact of data centers, however, are not the only reasons to support a moratorium.

Let’s be clear. AI will likely have a catastrophic impact on the lives of working-class Americans, eliminating tens of millions of blue- and white-collar jobs in every sector of our economy.

Further, given the extraordinary speed at which AI is progressing, a number of very knowledgeable AI experts fear that this revolutionary technology could soon become smarter than humans and escape human control — with potentially cataclysmic outcomes.

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.

Bernie Sanders is a US Senator, and the ranking member of the Senate budget committee. He represents the state of Vermont, and is the longest-serving independent in the history of Congress.

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