Bernie Sanders has warned that Congress and the American public have “no clue” about the scale and speed of the coming AI revolution, pressing for immediate policy action to “slow this thing down” as tech companies race to build ever more powerful systems.
Speaking with Congressman Ro Khanna at Stanford University on Friday after a series of meetings with industry leaders in California, Sanders spoke candidly about what he called “the most dangerous moment in the modern history of this country.”
“Congress and the American people are very unprepared for the coming tsunami,” he said.
Khanna, a progressive Democrat who represents Silicon Valley, shared Sanders’ concerns, warning that the country is experiencing a “new golden age” run by tech billionaires who believe “they would have been heroic conquerors in a different era”.
“It’s not just my observation,” Khanna said. “That’s what they tell me.”
Khanna and Sanders declined to say which tech executives they met with during the senator’s trip to California, but the congressman said these were “senior leaders” from “the most prominent tech companies.”
“I think it was important both for Senator Sanders to listen to tech leaders and it was important for tech leaders to listen to Senator Sanders, who represents and understands the concerns of so many working-class Americans,” Khanna said in an interview after the event.
During his remarks, Sanders re-issued his call for a pause on the expansion of AI data centers in order to “slow the revolution and protect workers” while policymakers catch up.
Food Does not want Postponement, but instead an emphasis on “driving” AI, advocating for the US to adopt a “Singapore model” for data center development with an emphasis on renewable energy and water efficiency. In his remarks before an auditorium of mostly students, Khanna outlined seven principles to guard against “oligarchic capture and dominance” of the wealth generated by AI innovation.
“We should be asking not what America can do for Silicon Valley, but what Silicon Valley should do for America,” said the congressman, who is considering a 2028 presidential bid.
The event included a one-day trip to California, a state he won in the 2020 presidential election and where he returned to rally thousands during his Fight Oligarchy tour last year. In Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sanders sharply condemned the “greed” of the billionaire class. There he helped formally launch a campaign for a ballot initiative that would impose a one-time 5% tax on residents worth more than $1 billion — a proposal that has already prompted some ultra-wealthy tech leaders to flee, or threaten to do so.
At Stanford, Sanders focused his remarks on his concerns about how AI will impact not only the labor force but personal well-being and people’s ability to interact with each other. He mentioned that a restaurant in DC offered a Valentine’s Day special for people and their “AI friends”, to which the students laughed.
This may seem strange, Sanders said, “but the truth is that many people are becoming dependent on AI for their emotional support. What is the long-term impact of this? What is the long-term impact if we lose work as an important part of our lives? What do we do with our lives?”
Sanders read statements from industry leaders who have predicted widespread automation, and cited projections that AI and robotics could eliminate millions of jobs in the coming decade — from truck drivers to fast-food workers and many white-collar roles.
Polling shows Americans are deeply concerned, as federal regulators and states debate how to rein in the nascent but rapidly growing technology. A 2025 pew survey found that 64% of the public think AI “will create fewer jobs over the next 20 years”. Only 17% of Americans say “AI will have a very or somewhat positive impact on the United States” over the same period.
Tech CEOs leading the AI race have argued that AI will drive productivity, innovation, and new types of jobs, just as technological progress has always done. But critics like Sanders say the “unprecedented” speed and scale of the changes threaten to enrich “multi-billionaires” while deepening inequality and leaving policymakers and the public unprepared to respond in a timely manner.
Sander urged his colleagues in Washington – and the public – to start a serious public debate about the future of work as AI disrupts the economy, democracy and people’s emotional lives.
“AI and robotics are neither good nor bad,” he said. “The question is, will a handful of billionaires benefit from this, or will the general public benefit?”
