Bernie Sanders isn’t mincing words: artificial intelligence is “the most consequential technology in the history of humanity,” but Congress hasn’t had “one serious word of discussion” about what happens when it eliminates millions of jobs.
WHAT’S GOING ON: Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, the Vermont senator called for a potential moratorium on new AI datacenters and directly named the billionaires driving this technological steamroller: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Peter Thiel.
“You think they’re staying up nights worrying about working people and how this technology will impact those people?” Sanders asked. “They are not. They are doing it to get richer and even more powerful.”
THE DETAILS: Sanders raised the fundamental question no one in power wants to answer: “If there are no jobs and humans won’t be needed for most things, how do people get an income to feed their families, to get healthcare or to pay the rent?”
He also flagged growing concerns about AI’s mental health impact, particularly studies showing dependence on chatbots for emotional support. “What does it mean to humanity” when people get their emotional connection from machines instead of other humans?
OF COURSE: In a rare moment of left-right convergence, Republican Senator Katie Britt echoed some of Sanders’ concerns—though focused narrowly on protecting children.
Britt’s proposed Guard Act would ban AI companions for minors and establish criminal liability for companies whose chatbots encourage self-harm, suicide, or sexual content with young people. She cited “devastating stories” from parents whose children were isolated by chatbots.
WHY IT MATTERS: Sanders is asking the question the oligarchs desperately want you to ignore: Who benefits from this “transformation”? The tech barons have added over half a trillion dollars to their wealth in 2025 alone from the AI boom. Meanwhile, workers are being told to simply “adapt” to obsolescence.
“It’s not good enough for the oligarchs to tell us, it’s coming, you adapt,” Sanders said. “What are they going to do when people have no jobs? What are they going to do, make housing free?”
BOTTOM LINE: Either we decide democratically how AI reshapes society, or a handful of billionaires decide for us. And spoiler: they’re not going to choose what’s good for you.