Capitol Hill’s left-wing squad has seized on mounting opposition to data centers and unveiled a bill that would place a moratorium on their expansion “to ensure the safety of humanity.”
Sen. Bernard Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, two of the most socialist-leaning members of Congress, introduced legislation that would pause construction of data centers until “strong national safeguards are in place” to protect workers from losing their jobs to artificial intelligence technology, ensure privacy rights are protected and address the risk of environmental harm.
“A moratorium will give us time — time to understand the risks, time to protect working families, time to defend our democracy, and time to make sure this technology works for all of us, not just the very few,” Mr. Sanders said during a press conference announcing the new legislation.
While the bill hasn’t picked up many co-sponsors, it taps into growing opposition from environmental groups and communities pushing back against not only the data centers but the AI technology that the centers fuel, which critics say will automate much of the global economy and eventually kill thousands of jobs.
In addition to high electric bills and fewer jobs, AI brings significant threats to young people who become addicted to the technology as it slowly takes over society, Mr. Sanders warned.
“People who know more about it than anybody else in the world are telling us that within a few years it is likely that AI will be smarter than human beings, that human beings may lose control over AI with possibly catastrophic impacts,” said the democratic socialist from Vermont. “We need a sense of urgency to address these issues.”
In the United States, according to Goldman Sachs researchers, the construction of data centers capable of supporting advanced AI has tripled over the past three years.
Along with it has come a massive increase in power demand, which is expected to rise by 165% by 2030.
While the data centers provoke opposition, much of what they do is popular. The sprawling, humming facilities keep the internet running and have become some of the most critical infrastructure of the modern age. They serve as the backbone of America’s digital economy, housing the servers, storage systems and networking hardware that power cloud computing, AI development and the internet services relied upon by millions of businesses and consumers each day.
The new data centers promise increased productivity, medical innovations, and other societal and scientific advancements.
But neighbors are fed up with the noise and higher electricity bills required to power the new technology, and some communities with data centers in the planning books are trying to block them.
Virginia, ranked as the top data center market globally, has been at the forefront of the backlash.
In Loudoun County, home to 200 data centers with 100 more in the works, residents in one neighborhood last month complained about round-the-clock humming, akin to the sound of a hovering helicopter, that has been generated from one of several CloudHQ data centers in the area. A local news outlet, News4, measured the sound at 90 decibels, a level that requires ear protection after sustained exposure.
The regular complaints pushed the county in 2023 to require each new data center to win approval from the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.
The county is also grappling with residents who are protesting proposed high-voltage power lines needed to provide electricity to the county’s many data centers.
In neighboring Warrenton, Virginia, infuriated residents voted out the town council in 2024 after it supported a proposed Amazon data center.
Dozens of community groups across the country are challenging the construction of data centers. According to Data Center Watch, community opposition has blocked or delayed $64 billion in data center construction.
The backlash is in stark opposition to the Trump administration, which has placed AI development and data centers at the forefront of the president’s agenda.
Mr. Trump opposes individual state and local laws regulating AI and supports strengthening AI infrastructure, including accelerating permitting for data centers. But the states are largely ignoring him and implementing more and more regulations limiting data centers.
The Virginia General Assembly this year passed legislation requiring new data center applicants seeking to build outside of industrial areas to study the sound impact on residential communities and schools, as well as the impact on ground and surface water resources, agriculture, parks, historic sites and forestland.
In Phoenix, another top data center location, the government has updated zoning laws limiting the construction of new data centers to protect property owners from noise and fire risk and to preserve the stability of the energy grid.
In New York, State Senators Liz Krueger and Kristen Gonzalez introduced a bill to impose a three-year moratorium on the most energy-hungry data centers, while Denver Mayor Mike Johnston implemented a year-long moratorium on new data centers to allow the city to study the impact and review zoning regulations.
“More than 100 local communities across 12 states have already enacted local moratoriums on data centers and Congress itself has a moral obligation to stand with them and stop big tech from ruining their communities,” said Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat.
Mr. Trump appeared to acknowledge the growing backlash, unveiling in March a “national legislative framework” for data centers that includes ensuring ratepayers don’t foot the bill for increased power demand and protecting workers through skills training programs.
“The administration recognizes that some Americans feel uncertain about how this transformative technology will affect issues they care about, like their children’s well-being or their monthly electricity bill. These issues, along with other emerging AI policy considerations, require strong Federal leadership to ensure the public’s trust in how AI is developed and used in their daily lives,” White House officials said in a statement.
The backlash against data centers clashes with Mr. Trump’s commitment to ensuring the U.S. beats China in the AI race.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum warned recently that a data center moratorium would be akin to “a complete capitulation” to China.
Lawmakers from both parties in Congress side with the Trump administration.
Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia Democrat, told an AI Summit hosted by Axios that a moratorium “would be idiocy” and would allow China “to move quicker.”
Mr. Sanders brushed aside those concerns and said the Chinese are also worried about the advancement of AI.
U.S. officials should negotiate with the Chinese to work out joint limitations on artificial intelligence, he said.
“In a sane world, what happens is the leadership of the United States sits down with the leadership in China and leadership around the world to work together so that we don’t go over the edge and create a technology which could perhaps destroy humanity,” Mr. Sanders said.
