Fetterman rejects data center and AI ‘doomsdaying’ after Shapiro executive order
Washington Examiner · RC · trust 32/100
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), one of the more centrist Democrats on Capitol Hill, took to social media on Saturday to underscore his stance on data centers after Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) signed an executive order restricting their development in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
“AI supremacy and energy dominance underpins our national security,” Fetterman said on X in reaction to an article about the artificial intelligence race between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. “China continues to fuel and benefit from our overreaction. I reject the political pandering and hyperbole over data centers or AI doomsdaying.”
Debates about data center construction have intensified in recent weeks and months, prompting lawmakers to publicly clarify or alter their positions on the controversial infrastructure used to power artificial intelligence models.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) called for an audit of new developments on Aug. 3rd after Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) signed the first one-year, statewide moratorium on data center development in July. Republican Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers also told Detroit News this week he supports a one-year data center moratorium, while Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI), the Republican nominee for governor in Wisconsin, has called his opponent David Crowley “Data Center David Crowley.”
Fetterman has consistently pushed back against such data center and broader AI doomerism throughout the summer, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been forced to take a policy position on an issue that’s both new and subject to shifting public opinion. He said “China wins” in reaction to Hochul’s announcement, and “this must not happen” after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sent a letter to CEOs of AI companies calling for a pause in further industry development.
“America must lead in the development of AI, otherwise we live under China’s rules,” he said in reaction to Sanders’ policy proposal, who introduced a bill alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) in March that would enact a data center moratorium “until Congress passes comprehensive AI legislation that ensures the safety and prosperity of the American people.” “That must not happen,” Fetterman said in response.
President Donald Trump defended data center construction on Friday, citing local job creation and tax benefits. “If you pick the right location, and it’s going to be not every location is perfect for it, but if you pick the right location, what it means for a community is jobs and lots of money and lower taxes,” he said.
Trump also touted his ratepayer protection pledge while speaking to reporters, which requires that major technology companies that build data centers will “build, bring, or buy all of the energy needed for building and operating data centers” to “protect American consumers from price hikes due to data center energy and infrastructure requirements.”
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