The explosion of new data center projects in the U.S. has led to a growing backlash against the infrastructure that powers AI. Two influential politicians are now proposing a ban on any new data centers with peak power loads in excess of 20 megawatts. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York are introducing companion legislation in their respective chambers today that would halt the projects until Congress enacts comprehensive AI regulation. Sanders’ office points to remarks from a variety of tech luminaries who have discussed their fears of AI and called for stricter rules or pauses on development. These include Elon Musk (who has said “AI is far more dangerous than nukes. So why do we have no regulatory oversight?”), Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Nobel Prize-winner Geoffrey Hinton.…