Bernie Sanders Is Planning a California Trip to Talk AI With Tech Leaders

Sen. Bernie Sanders is heading to California next week during the Senate’s recess to discuss the future of artificial intelligence with industry leaders — with a particular focus on how it will impact working people and the economy.

“Congress and the American people are totally unprepared for the extraordinary transformations that AI and robotics are going to make in our country and, in fact, throughout the world in the next few years,” Sanders said on a press call Wednesday. “We have seen the development of electricity, the automobile, radio, TV, computers, the internet — all of which were very significant. But all of those technologies pale in comparison to the impact, in my view, that AI and robotics will have on our world.”

Sanders said there are a few important questions to ask: “Who is pushing the development of AI and robotics? Who are the people who are putting many, many, many hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions of dollars, into AI and robotics?”

Sanders plans to talk to AI executives about how the rapid development of the technology could negatively affect the American people. He declined to comment on which industry leaders he would be meeting with.

In October, Sanders released a report that found that AI could replace up to 97 million jobs in 10 years and that AI companies admit their goal is to lower labor costs by cutting human jobs.

During the call, Sanders shared more questions that he planned to pose: “What is their goal as they push these technologies, which is going to radically transform American society and the world? Are they really staying up nights worrying about the impact of these technologies on working people?”

Sanders referenced tech leaders, including Dario Amodei, Elon Musk and Jim Farley, who have all mentioned AI taking human jobs.

“So the bottom line for me is that we should be very nervous about the wealthiest people on this planet moving forward to transform our society, and in fact, the entire world, and I do not believe they’re staying up nights worrying about making life better for ordinary people. I think, frankly, they want even more wealth, and they want even more power,” Sanders said.

Sanders said that when he returns from his California trip, he will be introducing legislation to call for a moratorium on the construction of AI data centers.

“I don’t think anybody can predict with certainly what’s going to happen in the next few years, but I think we would be very, very mistaken not to have deep concerns about the transformative impact these technologies are going to have, and the understanding that we are in no way, no way, prepared to deal with them,” he said.

While in California, Sanders will also be hosting a town hall with Rep. Ro Khanna at Stanford University to continue the discussion of AI and its effects on society.