A ‘pound of flesh’ from data centers: one senator’s answer to AI job losses

Summary

The signs that AI could lead to mass job displacement are already piling up: entry-level job postings in the U.S. have sunk 35% since 2023, mass layoffs have swept across Big Tech, and even AI leaders themselves are warning about what’s coming. Backstage at the Axios AI Summit in Washington on Wednesday, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said a venture capitalist recently told him he’s writing software investments down to zero in large part due to the strides of Anthropic’s Claude, and a major law firm told him it’s not hiring first-year associates because AI can now handle much of the work once assigned to junior lawyers. Warner says the fear of AI-related job loss is “palpable,” even as data from one AI company suggests AI hasn’t yet started taking jobs. As those fears grow, they’re bleeding over into a different fight, which is who should foot the bill. Warner has a proposal: tax the data centers powering the AI boom and use that revenue to help workers through the transition. He hasn’t introduced legislation yet, but the idea is gaining urgency as public anger toward AI and data centers grows. Across the U.S., there’s been pushback on data centers, including a bill on Wednesday introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), calling for a data center moratorium. The loudest concerns are about noise, pollution, and rising electricity costs. But there’s a bubbling resentment underneath those concerns, a resistance to suffering the potential ill effects of having a data center in your backyard that powers the technology some fear will replace workers. Warner doesn’t plan to support his colleagues’ bill. On stage at the event, he said: “A data center moratorium simply means China is gonna move quicker, and this is one where we can’t lose.” There’s no stuffing the genie back into the bottle when it comes to AI and data centers, he added. And while Warner believes in strict requirements that ensure data centers don’t pass their water and power...