Democrats' divide over AI frames a debate for 2028
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Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios.
The future of AI is dividing the Democratic Party, as potential 2028 presidential candidates and key stakeholders stake out clashing positions in what's already shaping up as a major policy battle in the primary.
Why it matters: If Democrats win back the White House in 2028, where they land on AI will shape how the country approaches the new technology — with big consequences for the economy and workers.
The big picture: Two main arguments are now playing out within the Democratic Party:
- Democrats should embrace AI to beat China and capture the jobs that come with the many data centers AI companies are building. (The Trump administration has a similar argument, though most Democrats say the White House has given AI companies too much latitude.)
- Democrats should slow down and push for more regulation of the AI industry, given its potential power to displace millions of workers and the volume of natural resources being sucked up by new data centers to power the technology.
Driving the news: Swing state governors such as Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro and Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer — both potential 2028 presidential contenders — have welcomed AI companies.
- "The future of AI will run through Pennsylvania — and together, we will defeat China in the battle for AI supremacy," Shapiro declared in September. He's touted AI investments from companies such as Amazon in his state.
- In October, Whitmer boasted about a multibillion-dollar OpenAI Stargate project: "Today, we won the largest economic project in Michigan history," she said.
- She said the project is expected to "create 2,500 good-paying union construction jobs, more than 450 permanent high-skill, high-paying jobs on site, and 1,500 more in the community."
Some labor unions, especially those in the building trades, also have partnered with the AI industry and applauded the potential jobs it could bring to their members.
- Brent Booker, the president of the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), told Axios that "data centers are coming. The country should plan responsibly for them — that means that they are constructed with union labor and developed in the context of expanding energy supply for the communities impacted."
The other side: Some progressive Democrats eyeing the 2028 race, such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and California Rep. Ro Khanna, have been much more critical of AI companies.
- They've called for significant government regulations and new policies to protect workers who may be displaced by the technology.
- Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a left-wing leader, this week called for a "moratorium on the construction of data centers that are powering the unregulated sprint to develop and deploy AI," as he posted on X.
- Asked whether Ocasio-Cortez supports a moratorium, her spokesperson declined to say but pointed to her remarks last week at a congressional hearing where she argued that "there are real public health consequences for the continued failure of regulating or there being congressional action in the AI space."
- She added: "AI chatbots are causing children to take their own lives, as AI data centers are skyrocketing electricity costs and polluting local communities."
While some unions have warmed up to AI, others are fighting it because they believe it will replace their members' jobs.
- The Teamsters have called for all self-driving trucks to have a human operator in the vehicle — setting up a clash with AI companies.
- Some Democrats, including Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, have backed the union's demands, while others have been quiet on the issue.
- Asked whether Shapiro agrees with Fetterman, the governor's spokesperson declined to say.
