Democrats and Sanders Renew Calls for Datacenter Pauses After Midterms
Several newly elected Democrats and Senator Bernie Sanders have renewed calls for pauses on building datacenters, the large facilities that house the computer equipment behind artificial intelligence (AI) and online services, in the days after the 2026 US midterm elections. On Wednesday, Sanders posted on X, the social media platform, calling for an immediate national moratorium, or temporary halt, on datacenter construction.
Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have introduced a bill that would pause construction of new datacenters in the United States until national safeguards are established, according to reporting by the Associated Press. Representative Yassamin Ansari of Arizona wrote that the top of the Democratic agenda should be a pause on advanced AI development, regulation of the industry, and a ban on artificial superintelligence, a term for AI that would surpass human intelligence.
Voters also passed dozens of local ballot measures aimed at restricting datacenter projects. Sanders said 43 of 44 communities voted for a local AI datacenter moratorium in elections he referenced after the midterms. New Hampshire's Senator-elect Chris Pappas praised constituents for "opposing big data centers that harm our communities," while New Mexico Congressman Gabe Vasquez said "the time is now to stop the AI billionaire class from forcing datacenters in our community."
White House National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett argued that the ballot initiatives would largely not affect existing datacenter projects. Newly elected governors in several states campaigned on promises to stop or pause datacenter construction statewide, and Amy Acton called for a conditional moratorium on new datacenters unless developers agree to cover all of their utility costs.
Tech companies are also weighing in. Meta Platforms president Dina Powell McCormick said it is "going to be harder" to build datacenters following the midterm vote. SpaceX, the rocket and satellite company led by Elon Musk, has proposed a datacenter project in Arizona spanning more than 700 acres.
Musk spent nearly half a billion dollars backing Republican candidates and attacking Democrats on his social media platform during the midterms. On election night he posted that "datacenters in space looking pretty appealing right now." After Ansari's post, Musk mocked it in a retweet. Ansari forecast congressional hearings in response and told him "See you soon."
