Sen. Bernie Sanders has issued his toughest warning yet about the rise of artificial intelligence. In an interview with NBC News, Sanders said the explosive growth in technology risks concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a few billionaires, leaving ordinary workers behind. Sanders warned that military applications of AI could reshape global conflicts. “I think the development of robot soldiers is not that far away,” he says. “If we don’t have to worry about the loss of human life, and what we’re worried about is the loss of robots, what does that mean for global war and peace issues? That’s a big question.”
These billionaires are all driving the AI race
The report added that Sanders links the rise of AI to long-standing concerns about wealth inequality. “The top 1% of Americans own more wealth than the bottom 93%. Billionaires like Musk, Ellison, Bezoses and Zuckerberg are all investing hundreds of billions of dollars in AI and robotics. What will be the outcome?”Additionally, Sanders warned that such investments could make big tech companies richer and more politically powerful, while weakening democracy and eroding workers’ living standards.
Jobs and humanity are at risk
So did Bill Gates, and Sanders echoed warnings from technology leaders, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, that AI could eliminate millions of jobs. “Right now, if I’m a factory worker and I work in an office, how am I going to support my family? How am I going to pay my rent? Who’s telling me that?”Sanders also expressed concern about the impact of AI on relationships, noting that teenagers are becoming increasingly dependent on AI companions. “If today’s children have AI as their best friend…what kind of change will that mean for humanity?”Sanders also warned that cooperation between AI companies and the U.S. military could violate privacy. “How far are we from a few people who have access to every email you send, every phone call you make, really every aspect of your life? We’re not that far away.”
Policy proposals and opposition
Sanders suggests the following measures to reduce the impact of AI:
- Employee ownership of the company
- Shorter weekly working hours
- Possibility of imposing robot tax on companies to support evacuees
- Breaking up dominant AI companies like OpenAI to prevent excessive concentration of power
He criticized venture capitalists and technology donors who fund super PACs to block regulation, likening their behavior to the monarchies of old.Sanders also said he will host a town hall with AI pioneer Jeffrey Hinton at Georgetown University to discuss the trajectory of AI and its impact on workers. He urged Congress and the public to accelerate the debate: “This is not just a technological revolution. It’s going to go deeper and faster.”
