Fetterman rips AI data center moratorium pushed by Sanders, AOC as ‘China First’

Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, opposed the prospect of imposing a moratorium on artificial intelligence data centers in the United States, calling the policy proposal “China First.”

“The emerging AI chassis must be built by America. We can put appropriate safeguards in place without ceding the AI ​​victory to China. A moratorium is China first,” Fetterman said in an article on X.

Fetterman included a screenshot of an Axios headline that read: “Sanders, AOC Unveil Data Center Moratorium Bill.”

Citing concerns about the impacts of AI and the infrastructure that powers it, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., are pushing for a bill to halt the construction and expansion of AI data centers in the United States.

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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., walks through the Senate subway after a vote at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Our bills learn from our lack of regulation following the similar rise of the Internet and demand a new approach to AI: one that protects the American people from big tech’s overreach…one that centers the prosperity of the many at the expense of the exorbitant profits of the few,” Ocasio-Cortez said at a press conference Wednesday.

During the press conference, both lawmakers received a question about the idea that a moratorium on AI data centers would allow China to gain an advantage.

“So I think in a sane world, what happens is the leaders of the United States sit down with the leaders of China and around the world to work together so that we don’t overstep the bounds and create technology that could possibly destroy humanity,” Sanders said.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., hold a news conference to announce the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Once these companies can get on the right track – providing their own energy, building and investing in infrastructure, refusing to alienate the American people – then we can continue to develop and explore this technology,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

According to a copy of the proposal posted online by Sanders’ office, the measure would block the construction or upgrade of AI data centers until one or more laws regulating the space have been instituted.

The regulatory law(s) should meet several conditions, including ensuring that “the federal government will review and approve artificial intelligence products before such products are marketed, with the goal of ensuring that such products are safe and effective and do not threaten the health and well-being of working families, privacy and civil rights, and the future of humanity.” »

The law(s) needed to lift the moratorium should also ensure that “economic gains from artificial intelligence and robotics will benefit workers, not just the wealthy owners of big tech companies,” the text of the measure says.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., hold a news conference to announce the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act at the U.S. Capitol March 25, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

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Any future law allowing the moratorium to be lifted would also have to ensure that any data centers built or upgraded after the moratorium ends “will not increase consumers’ utility or electricity bills” or “exacerbate the threat of climate change or harm the environment,” according to the proposal. It would also need to ensure that communities have the power to approve or reject AI data center projects that could affect them, ensure that “no government subsidies are provided for” the operation, construction or upgrade of an AI data center, and ensure that such a facility “creates union jobs with strict labor standards.”

Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal would also ban the export of AI-related hardware to countries that do not have such regulations in place.