Sen. Sanders seeks Vermonters’ views on AI, robotics technology
August 25, 2026Dear fellow Vermonters,
Artificial Intelligence and robotics are the most transformative technologies in the history of humanity and will impact every man, woman, and child in our country. These technologies, developed and pushed by some of the wealthiest people in the world — Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Ellison, et al. — are advancing extremely rapidly. The Big Tech companies are reporting major breakthroughs almost every week.As your senator, I’ve been helping to lead the effort in Congress to address the extraordinary challenges that AI poses for the United States and the world. Given the reality that humanity is moving into uncharted territory, nobody has any magical answers to questions that have never been asked before.Let me take this opportunity, however, to briefly tell you what my office has been doing with regard to AI — and to ask for your help.
I would very much appreciate hearing your thoughts regarding AI and how we best go forward in responding to this unprecedented development. Click here to share your thoughts. We will assemble the comments that we receive from Vermonters and publish them in a future Bernie Buzz email newsletter.
This is a vitally important discussion that needs to happen, and I look forward to hearing from you. Needless to say, all points of view are welcome. Here’s what I think:
Slow it down
AI and robotics must be used to benefit ALL of humanity and not just a handful of Big Tech oligarchs. The extraordinarily powerful multibillionaires who own the major AI companies cannot be allowed to play God and transform humanity in ways that simply benefit their own interests. In a democratic society, these transformational decisions must be made by all Americans. WE must decide what aspects of AI are positive and beneficial, and what parts are negative and should be discarded.That is why, in March 2026, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and I introduced legislation to impose a national moratorium on the construction of new data centers. Our goal: before we build AI’s enormous infrastructure, there must be firm guidelines in place to protect the well-being of ordinary Americans. When we first announced that proposal, we were called “crazy,” “radical,” and “extremist.”
Today, that concept has the support of 75% of Americans and more than 500 cities, towns or counties have passed restrictions on the construction of new data centers. Further, governors, local officials and candidates across the country are rapidly moving in that direction.
The public must control AI’s future and benefit from it
AI is the accumulated knowledge of human beings. It is the books that have been written, the poems and music that have been composed, and the great works of mathematicians, physicists and scientists throughout history and from all over the world. It is the videos, tweets and podcasts that were completed last month. In other words, the foundation of AI is human effort and accomplishment. Society as a whole must benefit from it, not just the owners of major AI companies.That is why several months ago I introduced legislation calling for an American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund. That bill mandates that half the membership on the boards of directors of the major AI companies would be selected by Congress to represent the interests of the public. It also requires that a substantial part of the profits generated by AI companies go directly to the American people.
We must prevent an existential threat to humanity
Over just the past month, there seems to be a frightening new story every day about how Big Tech companies are losing control of the AI technology they are developing, with potentially cataclysmic results.This month we learned that AI has been used for the first time ever to create new viruses. In the wrong hands, this could lead to new bioweapons that might result in the deaths of tens of millions of people. Last month, we learned that OpenAI had lost control of an AI model that hacked into another company’s computers — a clear violation of federal law. Then we learned that other models from Anthropic and Meta had similarly escaped human control.These stories prompt the question: Are the largest AI companies building machines that humans can no longer control? What kind of cataclysmic developments could occur if AI becomes independent of human control?That’s why, earlier this month, I wrote to the CEOs of America’s largest AI companies — Anthropic, Meta and OpenAI — with a simple message: Stop racing ahead and investing tens of billions of dollars into a technology that nobody can fully understand, predict or control. I also make clear to these CEOs that if they do not respond to that request, I will be introducing legislation that does that for them.Once again, AI is an issue of unprecedented consequence. It will impact us all, and all of us must determine how it unfolds. I look forward to hearing your views on this extraordinarily important issue.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders
This commentary was published in Sen. Sanders’ Bernie Buzz email newsletter. Sign up here to receive the newsletter. Sen. Sanders, I-Vt., is the state’s senior U.S. Senator in Congress and serves on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (ranking member), Finance Committee, Budget Committee, Committee on Environment and Public Works, and the Veterans' Affairs Committee.