Two Revolutions Stacking: The Internet Plus AI Regulation Dilemma
Hank Green and Bernie Sanders frame the current moment as two simultaneous revolutions — the internet (still unresolved) and AI — stacking on top of each other. Sanders introduced a data center construction moratorium. The core tension: AI development speed is set by corporate competition, not societal readiness, and Congress is largely passive due to industry campaign contributions.
A growing argument in technology policy circles frames the current era as two simultaneous revolutions stacking: the internet revolution (many-to-many communication, still producing unresolved harms like algorithmic manipulation and parasocial relationships) and the AI revolution (labor displacement, biotech, existential risk) arriving before the first is resolved. ## The Speed Problem Hank Green's framing: communication revolutions are more consequential than energy or weapons revolutions because communication is the foundation that produces everything else. The internet revolution "isn't over — we're in the hard part." AI is layering on top before society has adapted to the internet's negative effects. The speed of transition is itself a source of harm — slower adoption would let markets, governments, and individuals adapt. ## The Political Response Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced legislation for a moratorium on new data center construction. Not expected to pass. The stated goals: slow the AI race (currently paced by corporate competition between OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI), address community impacts (electricity costs, water usage, noise), and force a conversation about priorities ($700B on data centers vs. housing, healthcare, childhood poverty). Sanders' ranked concerns: (1) concentration of control among 4-5 billionaires driving AI for wealth rather than public benefit, (2) mass job displacement with no plan for affected workers or lost tax revenue, (3) existential risk — even a 10% probability (per Geoffrey Hinton's estimates) should warrant Congressional action, (4) Congressional inaction driven by AI industry campaign contributions. ## The Grid Flexibility Counterargument One interesting proposal: data centers could become grid assets by agreeing to power down during peak demand. Unlike residential air conditioning (where shutoff endangers people), compute loads can be interrupted and resumed. This would prevent electricity rate increases that effectively force the public to subsidize AI infrastructure. ## What's Missing The conversation notably omits open-source AI as a counterbalance to oligarchic control, international approaches (EU AI Act, China's regulatory framework), and the fact that a construction moratorium targets physical infrastructure rather than model development — existing data centers would continue operating and training models unaffected.