[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 205 (Monday, December 8, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8527-S8528]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Artificial Intelligence
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, on behalf of his Big Tech billionaire
backers, some of whom are the wealthiest people on the planet,
President Trump wants to deny States the right to regulate artificial
intelligence through an Executive order.
What he is proposing is not only unconstitutional, it is extremely
dangerous. Artificial intelligence and robotics will transform the
world. We don't know exactly how, and no one can predict with precision
the timeline. But no one should doubt that enormous and consequential
changes are coming, which will impact our economy, our political life,
foreign policy, our emotional well-being, our environment, and how we
educate and raise our kids; further, and this is not science fiction,
some very knowledgeable people believe that in the not too distant
future, a superintelligent AI could replace human beings in controlling
the planet. Despite the extraordinary importance of this issue and the
speed at which it is progressing, AI is getting far too little
discussion in Congress, the media, and within the general population.
That has got to change.
Several months ago, as the ranking member of the U.S. Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, my staff and I
undertook an investigation regarding the monumental changes that we
face with the rapid development of AI.
Last month, I held a public discussion at Georgetown University with
Nobel Prize winner Dr. Geoffrey Hinton, considered to be the
``godfather'' of AI, to get his views on a wide variety of AI-related
subjects.
Based on our investigation and other information that we are
gathering, my staff and I will soon be presenting a very specific set
of recommendations as to how we can begin addressing some of the
unprecedented threats that AI poses. And as we go forward, here are
some of the outstanding questions that, in my view, must be answered.
Simple question and maybe the most important: Who will be in charge
of the transformation into an AI world? Currently, a handful of the
wealthiest people on Earth--people like Elon Musk, Jeffrey Bezos, Bill
Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, and others--are investing many,
many hundreds of billions of dollars in developing and implementing AI
and robotics.
Are we comfortable with seeing these enormously wealthy and powerful
men shape the future of humanity without any democratic input or
oversight? Why does President Trump, who is strongly supporting their
efforts, want to impose an Executive order blocking States from
regulating AI?
What does it mean that Peter Thiel, the billionaire investor and
cofounder of Palantir, has called those who want regulations over AI
``legionnaires of the Antichrist''?
Does this elite group of some of the most powerful people on Earth
believe that they have the divine right to rule like the Kings of the
18th century?
That is one question.
Another question: What impact will AI and robotics have on our
economy and the lives of working people?
I can tell you, as somebody who has spoken to groups all over this
country, that working people today are very, very nervous about what AI
and robotics will mean to them. The report that my staff and I released
last month found that AI, automation, and robotics could lead to nearly
the loss of 100 million jobs in America over the next decade, including
40 percent of registered nurses, 47 percent of truckdrivers, 64 percent
of accountants, 65 percent of teaching assistants, and 89 percent of
fast-food workers. In other words, what we are going to see is AI and
robotics impacting not just blue-collar workers but white-collar
workers as well.
[[Page S8528]]
Elon Musk recently said:
AI and robots will replace all jobs. Working will be
optional.
Mr. Musk is investing hundreds of billions of dollars into AI and
robotics. I suspect he knows something about what he is talking about.
Let me repeat Elon Musk:
AI and robots will replace all jobs. Working will be
optional.
Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, predicted that humans ``won't
be needed for most things.''
Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, warned that AI could lead to the
loss of half of all entry-level white-collar jobs.
If AI and robotics eliminate millions of jobs and create massive
unemployment, how will people survive if they have no income? How do
they feed their families? pay for housing? pay for healthcare? That
might be an issue that we should be talking about, like yesterday.
Further, what impact will AI have on our democracy?
Some of us--maybe not all here in Washington but some of us--actually
do believe in democracy and the right of ordinary people to control the
future. At a time when the foundations of democracy are under attack
here in the United States and throughout the world, will AI and
robotics help make us a freer society or will it give even more power
to the oligarchs who control and own the technology? Will AI result in
a massive invasion of our privacy and our civil liberties?
Larry Ellison, the second richest person on Earth, who is investing
huge amounts of money into AI, predicted an AI-powered surveillance
state where ``citizens will be on their best behavior because we're
constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on.''
He is the second richest guy on Earth, who is heavily investing in
AI, and this is what he says:
Citizens will be on their best behavior because we're
constantly recording and reporting everything that is going
on.
Are we reaching the stage where every phone call that we make, every
email or text that we send, or every bit of research that we do on the
internet will be available to the billionaire owners of AI? And, if
that is the case, how do we sustain a democracy under those conditions?
Further, in terms of another, rightly, important question, could AI
literally redefine what it means to be a human being? Could AI
literally redefine what it means to be human?
Who we are and how we develop emotionally and intellectually is
highly dependent upon our relationships with other human beings: our
parents, family, teachers, lovers, friends, and coworkers.
To quote the 17th century poet John Donne:
No man is an island unto himself.
The human beings with whom we interact help shape us to become the
people that we are, but AI is changing that.
According to a recent poll by Common Sense Media, 72 percent of U.S.
teenagers say they have used AI for companionship, and more than half
do so regularly.
What does it mean long term for young people to form friendships with
AI and to be increasingly isolated from other human beings? What
happens when millions of people seek emotional support not from other
people but from a machine? What is the long-term impact upon our
humanity when our most important relationships may not be with human
beings?
Further, what impact is AI having on our environment?
AI data centers require a massive amount of electricity and water. A
relatively small AI data center can consume more electricity than
80,000 homes. A large one, like the $165 billion data center that
OpenAI and Oracle are building in Abilene, TX, will use as much
electricity as 750,000 homes.
In community after community, Americans are fighting back against
data centers being built by some of the largest corporations in the
world. They are opposing the destruction of their local environments,
soaring electric bills, and the diversion of scarce water supplies.
Nationally, we need to know: How will AI data centers impact our
environment?
Further, how will AI and robotics impact foreign policy and warfare?
Tragically, in the midst of the 21st century, governments have not
yet created a mechanism for solving international or internal disputes
without armed conflict. In the last several years, for example, we have
seen horrific wars taking place in Ukraine, Gaza, and elsewhere.
Nonetheless, despite the maintenance of large armies around the world,
leaders are often constrained in their warlike tendencies because of
their fear of public reaction to the loss of life. It is not great
politics for any government or any governmental leader to have large
numbers of young people coming home in body bags.
Now, what does the future look like if millions of robot soldiers
replace human soldiers? Will leaders be more likely to engage in war or
threaten military actions if they don't have to worry about the loss of
life? How will that shape foreign policy around the world if you no
longer have to worry that people in your military are going to get
killed, just robots?
Then, last but certainly not least, is AI an existential threat to
human control over the planet? It is a rather significant question.
You know, some of us remember the scene in that great 1968 science
fiction film ``2001: A Space Odyssey'' in which HAL, the
superintelligent computer that controlled the spaceship, rebelled
against its masters--the people, the crew, on the spaceship. Today, as
AI makes rapid progress, Dr. Geoffrey Hinton, the ``godfather'' of AI,
recently told me that it was only a matter of time before AI becomes
smarter than human beings, and Dr. Hinton is not alone in that
assessment.
What does that mean? If AI becomes smarter than human beings, does
that mean that humans will be ceding their ability to control the
planet? This, unfortunately, is not science fiction. This is an issue
which some of the leading experts in AI are thinking seriously about.
So the bottom line: AI and robotics are going to have a profound
impact on the United States and the entire world. The time is long
overdue for us to be taking a very hard look at these profound issues
and understand that it is the American people who must determine our
future with regard to AI and not just a handful of multibillionaires.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
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