Warner slams AOC, Sanders AI data center moratorium
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- Sen. Mark Warner called the proposed AI data center moratorium 'idiocy,' warning it would allow China to advance faster in the global AI race.
- Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unveiled legislation to pause all new AI data center construction until strong national AI safeguards are implemented.
- Warner argued that giving Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unilateral power to label AI companies like Anthropic as supply chain risks amounts to a 'death sentence' for those firms.
- Anthropic is challenging its designation as a supply chain risk in court, with a federal judge recently calling the Pentagon's actions 'troubling.'
- The Trump administration is moving to remove Anthropic's AI model Claude from federal agencies and block contractors from working with the company.
Why it matters: Warner’s pushback highlights a growing policy divide: restricting AI infrastructure to address risks could undermine U.S. competitiveness, while unchecked expansion risks ceding control to authoritarian regimes or enabling unchecked surveillance—decisions with trillion-dollar stakes for tech, defense, and national security.
