As artificial intelligence scales up, the debate over regulation, energy consumption, and labor displacement is already defining the emerging Democratic presidential primary. Key figures including Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Josh Shapiro, Andy Beshear, Mark Kelly, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are staking out sharply contrasting positions on how the federal government should handle the technology.
From White House Safeguards to Federal Stricter Rules
Former vice-president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has consistently balanced promoting US tech growth with enforcing strict institutional guardrails. Leading the Biden administration’s efforts to mitigate AI risks, Harris voiced acute concerns in 2023 regarding short-term threats to democracy, including disinformation dissemination and privacy erosions.
On 14 September, Harris reiterated the necessity for stricter federal regulations around artificial intelligence after prominent tech executives called for a general slowdown in AI development.
California’s Regulatory Push and the Enterprise “Kill Switch”
In California, home to foundational AI labs like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, Gavin Newsom has systematically pushed for increased state-level oversight. Newsom has promoted AI advancements while incrementally layering safeguards into law. These policies require major companies to publish best practices, establish whistleblower protections, implement safeguards for young users, and mandate studies to help companies retain employees rather than execute outright workforce replacements.
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In September, Newsom signed an executive order urging companies to consider engineering a “kill switch” following warnings from tech executives over existential safety scenarios where AI could cause human harm.
Balancing Tech Investment with Environmental Standards
Other Democratic figures are charting a middle ground that encourages datacenter construction and tech investment while demanding stricter operational limits. Josh Shapiro addressed these competing priorities at an AI summit in September.
“I want to be clear: I am not a doomer. I don’t think it is inevitable that AI is going to take over the world or that someone will misuse it to kill us or do harm. But I do have real concerns, as do many Pennsylvanians and many Americans,” Shapiro stated.
While Shapiro was an early adopter who championed state-level AI investment in 2024, he subsequently called for stricter federal regulations in September and signed an executive order in August mandating that datacenters meet strict environmental and energy usage standards.
Similarly, Andy Beshear enacted policies targeting datacenter construction infrastructure. In August, Beshear signed an executive order requiring datacenter developers to prove they will not generate detrimental impacts on the local environment and taxpayers before breaking ground, alongside calling for an end to taxpayer incentives and stronger federal oversight.
National Security, Worker Protection, and Economic Bubbles
Mark Kelly has emphasized the geopolitical imperatives of artificial intelligence, pointing to national security implications if the US fails to maintain technical leadership. Last year, Kelly published a roadmap proposing an “AI Horizon Fund” backed by AI corporations to finance education and training tools, support energy infrastructure, and assist displaced employees.
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“I do believe there are benefits, and they could be significant,” Kelly noted in September, adding that he planned to introduce legislation establishing the fund to protect workers whose jobs face direct disruption from automation.
Conversely, progressive voices have sounded alarms over the broader macroeconomic stability of the sector. During a House hearing last year, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez characterized rapid AI expansion as a “massive economic bubble.” In June, Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders introduced companion legislation known as the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, which would temporarily prohibit the construction of datacenters until Congress implements comprehensive federal guardrails addressing environmental, safety, and economic impacts. Ocasio-Cortez has also targeted harms generated by generative models, including the proliferation of deepfake pornography.
