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On Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called for a halt to the construction of new artificial intelligence data centers, warning that the rapid expansion of billionaire-driven artificial intelligence is threatening jobs, democracy and public resources.
Sanders says AI boom is driven by billionaires, not public good
In a video posted on X, Sanders said artificial intelligence and robotics are advancing faster than society can keep up.
“Artificial intelligence and robotics are the most transformative technologies in human history,” Sanders said, warning that they would impact “every man, woman and child” in the United States.
He believed that figures such as Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), space exploration technology corp. and xAI CEO Elon Musk, amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) Founder Jeff Bezos, Yuan Platform Company (Nasdaq: META) Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerbergventure capitalist Peter Thiel and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Co-Founder bill gates The technology is being pushed for “more wealth and even more power,” not to protect working families.
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Sanders questioned whether these leaders were worried about the impact on workers, saying he didn’t believe “these very, very wealthy people” would lose sleep over unemployment or inequality.
Job losses, social fallout fuel Sanders’ concerns about AI
The senator cited comments from tech executives themselves, noting that Musk has said artificial intelligence and robots could replace all jobs, making them optional.
He also cited Gates’ warning that most things don’t require humans, as well as comments from Anthropic selection CEO Dario Amodei suggests that artificial intelligence could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar roles.
“If artificial intelligence and robotics eliminate millions of jobs and cause mass unemployment, how will people survive without an income?” Sanders asked, arguing that Congress has not seriously addressed the issue.
He also expressed concern about children becoming socially isolated and emotionally dependent on artificial intelligence rather than real human connections, calling the future deeply troubling.
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Energy-hungry data centers are at the center of the pause push
Sanders’ call for a pause focused on data centers that power artificial intelligence systems.
Last week, he said Meta was planning a facility in Louisiana that could use three times as much electricity as New Orleans, with taxpayers ultimately footing the bill.
He also mentioned a project in Texas that involved open artificial intelligence and Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL) can consume enough power for approximately 750,000 homes, while another Meta site can meet the needs of 1.2 million homes.
Experts say data centers already account for about 5% of U.S. electricity consumption, a number expected to rise significantly as the adoption of artificial intelligence accelerates.
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Image credit: Lev Radin on Shutterstock.com
This article Bernie Sanders calls for halt to AI data center construction, claims ‘very, very rich people’ like Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg want more power and wealth, originally published on Benzinga.com
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