Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have announced a bill to pause the construction of data centers.The 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) Data Center Moratorium Act' has been introduced into the House with the express aim of stopping construction until other regulations have been passed.AI facilities are defined as data centers that consume more than 20MW, have racks 20kW or higher, are liquid cooled, and are used for the development or operation of artificial intelligence models at scale.The pair first called for a nationwide moratorium on new data center developments in the US. The legislation warns about the broad risk of AI development, as well as the local impact of data center projects.It quotes from industry figures such as Elon Musk (SpaceXAI), Dario Amodei (Anthropic), Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind), and Jeff Bezos (Amazon), who have spoken about mass job losses, doomsday fears, and propaganda concerns.The bill would see a moratorium enforced until laws are passed where the Federal government pledges to review and approve artificial intelligence products before release.Also required would be policies to prevent job losses and to share the wealth of big tech with US residents. New data centers, or upgrades, would have to show that they do not increase the utility or electricity bills of consumers, or impact the climate.Communities would be given power to approve or reject projects, no government subsidies would be allowed, and union jobs would be required.At the same time, the Secretary of Energy would be expected to submit a quarterly report on AI to Congress, and make it publicly available.It would track water usage of data centers, energy usage and costs, greenhouse gas emissions, wastewater discharge, and nearby noise levels.“AI and robotics are creating the most sweeping technological revolution in the history of humanity," Sen. Sanders said."The scale, scope, and speed of that change is unprecedented. Congress is way behind where it should be in understanding the nature of this revolution and its impacts. 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.”The legislation is cosponsored by Representatives André Carson (IN-07), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Terri Sewell (AL-07), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12).The representatives noted that more than 100 local communities around the country have enacted moratoriums on data centers, and 12 states are pushing forward with statewide moratorium proposals.While the federal moratorium is highly unlikely to be passed, the topic of AI and data center development has increasingly become a campaign issue at the local and state levels.Sanders has also called for the US to take a 50 percent stake in AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic for a new sovereign wealth fund.