AI Data Centre Moratorium Act
US bill to halt new AI data centre construction until protective legislation passes.
Last refreshed: 5 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Can a construction ban actually force Congress to protect AI workers?
Timeline for AI Data Centre Moratorium Act
Proposed US legislation banning new AI data centre construction
AI: Jobs, Power & Money: Democrats kill the Sanders AI moratoriumSanders and AOC target AI data centres
AI: Jobs, Power & MoneyWhat is the AI Data Centre Moratorium Act?
Who introduced the AI Data Centre Moratorium Act?
What does the AI Data Centre Moratorium Act actually ban?
Background
The AI Data Centre Moratorium Act was a US legislative proposal introduced on 25 March 2026 by Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It would have prohibited all new AI data centre construction until Congress enacted worker protections, consumer rights, civil rights, and environmental safeguards. The bill targeted the infrastructure spending race, with the five largest US technology companies committing $650-690 billion to AI buildout in 2026.
The Act arrived as Sanders simultaneously pursued a robot tax and the Senate HELP Committee documented AI-linked displacement. Its scope was sweeping: all four bodies of protective law had to pass before construction could resume, making partial legislative progress insufficient to lift the ban.
The bill is dead on arrival, killed not by Republicans but by Democratic colleagues. Senator Fetterman called it "China First"; Senator Warner called it "idiocy". With no PATH through a Republican-controlled Congress and its own caucus divided, the moratorium has no legislative future . It marks both the high-water point and the ceiling of the progressive AI governance push in the 119th Congress.