U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wrote on Tuesday: “I will be pushing for a moratorium on the construction of data centers that are powering the unregulated sprint to develop & deploy AI. The moratorium will give democracy a chance to catch up, and ensure that the benefits of technology work for all of us, not just the 1%.”
I will be pushing for a moratorium on the construction of data centers that are powering the unregulated sprint to develop & deploy AI.
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 16, 2025
The moratorium will give democracy a chance to catch up, and ensure that the benefits of technology work for all of us, not just the 1%. pic.twitter.com/PoV5ziA4oQ
Andrew Cote, an engineering physicist who writes about deep tech and energy, replied to Sanders: “You could not have made the point any clearer That it will be easier to build things in space and colonize new planets Than unwind bureaucratic grift and regulatory capture.”
The world’s richest man and most famous tech evangelist, Elon Musk, replied to Cote: “The takers like Bernie will eventually follow the makers, but they’re cowards too and lack any sense of adventure, so they will wait until it is safe.”
Yes, Elon. I do lack "any sense of adventure" when that "adventure" will, as you have made clear, force tens of millions of workers out of their jobs.
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 17, 2025
The goal of AI and robotics must be to improve life for all people, not just to make you and your fellow oligarchs even richer. https://t.co/z6kxhp95no
Sanders replied to Musk: “Yes, Elon. I do lack ‘any sense of adventure’ when that ‘adventure’ will, as you have made clear, force tens of millions of workers out of their jobs. The goal of AI and robotics must be to improve life for all people, not just to make you and your fellow oligarchs even richer.”
This is not the first time Sanders and Musk have swatted at each other online, though once recently Sanders found himself agreeing with the world’s richest man — in what the Senator himself described as an unusual situation.
Replying to Musk’s assertion that in the future he envisions “AI and robots will replace all jobs” and that “working will be optional, like growing your own vegetables,” Sanders wrote: “I don’t often agree with Elon Musk, but I fear that he may be right when he says, ‘AI and robots will replace all jobs.'”
The resulting unemployment and its financial impact on the middle and working classes is Sanders’ top concern, though in Musk’s view some version of a universal basic income derived through AI’s efficiencies will alleviate the poverty of those whose jobs are replaced by the technology.
I don’t often agree with Elon Musk, but I fear that he may be right when he says, “AI and robots will replace all jobs.”
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) October 22, 2025
So what happens to workers who have no jobs and no income?
AI & robotics must benefit all of humanity, not just billionaires. https://t.co/4uNeMy1Pnj
.jpg){kind=link}