Democratic presidential hopefuls are scrambling to seize on the growing public backlash against AI. But none will go as far as Bernie Sanders and his recent call to halt the technology's development.

• We asked nearly 20 Democrats who are seen as potential White House contenders whether they support Sanders' call for AI CEOs to "stop building machines that humans cannot control." Only one directly answered the question.

Why it matters: The politics of AI are changing as fast as the technology itself, and 2028 aspirants are struggling to articulate their vision on it — including how they'd manage its potentially catastrophic risks.

• Some Democratic strategists fear the party will be caught flat-footed on the issue in 2028 as a result.
• 😵‍💫 Meanwhile, many Republicans — and some Democrats — have been whipsawed on AI, and are trying to prove their anti-AI bona fides after having cozied up to top AI companies and their plans for data centers.

Driving the news: Besides quizzing the potential Democratic candidates on Sanders' proposed technology pause, we asked them if they back a moratorium on AI data centers — and if they're concerned that regulation could cost the U.S. the AI arms race.

• None embraced Sanders' proposal to halt the technology. But tellingly, almost no one criticized Sanders' neo-Luddite position, either.

🤔 Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was the only potential 2028er who offered something of a critique: "This is talking around a problem instead of trying to solve it. A pause is fine — but then what?"

• "The real question," Emanuel said, "is how the time it buys gets used to build a comprehensive plan that meets America's energy needs, instead of masking them."
• Emanuel called for permitting reform and requiring Big Tech hyperscalers to pay for upgrades to the energy infrastructure.
• About half the potential contenders simply didn't respond, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and ex-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
• New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and California Rep. Ro Khanna, both progressives, are the only possible 2028 candidates who've expressed support for a data center pause, to varying degrees.

🐌 Zoom in: Some Democratic strategists say their party's presidential hopefuls have been too slow to develop a clear populist message on AI. They worry that could create an opening for Republicans to capitalize on the voter rebellion over data centers in 2028.

• Adam Carlson, a progressive pollster, called Democrats "overly cautious."
• "It's a big strategic error for the Democratic Party writ large not to be the one that's owning this," he said.
• "What if JD Vance comes out and is the first major presidential candidate to support a data center moratorium, other than AOC?" Carlson asked. "That's a huge miss."

Zoom out: Many candidates in this year's elections — Democrats and Republicans alike — have been quicker to embrace ideas such as a data center pause.

• It's a response to voters sharply turning against the projects over the past year: A recent Fox News poll found that 70% of voters oppose building an AI data center in their community.
• 🛑 Michigan Senate GOP nominee Mike Rogers backs a one-year moratorium on new data centers. Amy Acton, the Democrat running for Ohio governor, is calling for a "conditional moratorium." Stacy Garrity, the GOP nominee for Pennsylvania governor, supports a "pause."

Some potential Democratic presidential candidates who've been reluctant to back a moratorium have sought to show voters they're taking a hard line on data centers.

• Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's administration has railed against "irresponsible" data centers, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has revoked their tax breaks — stark reversals from their previous positions.
• Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker's teams both cited a bill they support that seeks to force data centers to foot their own energy costs.
• "Americans should not have to pay higher electric bills and other costs to subsidize the data centers being built by the richest corporations on the planet," Van Hollen said.

💪 The two most left-wing presidential prospects, AOC and Khanna, have raced to take the most aggressive stance on data centers.

• Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff, Mike Casca, noted that AOC is "leading the data center moratorium bill in the House." He declined to comment on Sanders' idea of halting AI technology.
• Khanna told us he supports a pause on data center construction in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — "places where these centers have been shoved down the throats of communities." (That's a shift from his previous stance.)
• Khanna didn't directly address Sanders' proposal. He said he discussed AI with Pope Leo recently and believes the technology "must be developed in accordance with the principles" of the pope's first encyclical on AI.
• Carlson speculated that many presidential hopefuls are waiting to see the outcome of the Nov. 3 midterms before taking clearer positions.

Read more.

— Holly Otterbein, Alex Thompson

A look at what potential 2028 Democratic presidential contenders are up to:

• Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock plans to visit the site of a proposed AI data center in his state's Effingham County later this week. He'll speak with local residents.
• 🪧 Ocasio-Cortez will rally in D.C. with Sen. Bernie Sanders and the Rev. Al Sharpton on Friday for "March on Washington 2026: Defend the Vote." It will be the 63rd anniversary of the historic March on Washington and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
• AOC also gave a late endorsement to Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, 80, in his Sept. 1 primary against Rep. Seth Moulton, 47. She was a key endorser in Markey's 2020 primary campaign but had stayed on the sidelines until now.
• 🌶️ New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham told Politico that potential presidential contenders are hitting her up to talk about her state, now that it's the fourth contest of the 2028 Democratic primary season (on Feb. 15). She said she's been in touch with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Emanuel, Booker and Pritzker. Buttigieg also is working to schedule time with her, she said.
• The Democratic National Committee crossed off Atlanta and Chicago as potential spots for its 2028 convention. It's down to Denver, Philadelphia and Boston.
• The latest FEC filings show the DNC has $16 million in cash but almost $18 million in debt. The Republican National Committee has $130 million and zero debt.
• Buttigieg received a warm reception in South Carolina this weekend, the AP reported.
• 📈 A new poll from Emerson found Ocasio-Cortez underperforming other Democrats in potential 2028 matchups against Secretary of State Marco Rubio or Vice President Vance. Buttigieg, Newsom and Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff all were ahead of Rubio and Vance by a few points, while AOC was at 44% to Vance's 46%, and 43% to Rubio's 48%.
• 🦀 Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has spent 20% of his days as governor in states other than Maryland (not including his trips to D.C. or overseas), the Baltimore Banner reported.
• Shapiro went from AI data center cheerleader to critic this week as he rolled out an executive order restricting development of the centers, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. (Shapiro's GOP opponent in the race for governor has begun running an attack ad alleging that Shapiro "sold us out" on data centers.)
• 💈 Shapiro's reelection campaign also debuted an ad focused on how his administration has cut licensing times for Black-owned barbershops and salons, the Grio reported.
• 🥜 Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly campaigned with Ossoff this week in Georgia, where Ossoff's seeking reelection in a critical Senate race.
• 🚙 "Detroit Talk City" asked Newsom if he thought he would be a good president. "I have no idea," he said. "I would like to think I would be, but that's for others to determine."

Ocasio-Cortez has cultivated a brand as a political outsider — someone who, as she once put it, "never really saw myself running" for office.

• 👉 But back in 2018, Ocasio-Cortez's mom spilled the beans: AOC's been dreaming of the presidency for a while now.
• "Her aspiration is to be the president," Blanca Ocasio-Cortez told the New York Post back then.
• 💡 She said her daughter "has been thinking about politics since she was a teenager. She would read historical and political books, old and new. She would engage in political discussions passionately."

AOC is hardly the only potential 2028 candidate whose presidential ambitions are rumored to go back years.

• Pennsylvania Democrats often joke that Shapiro has been eyeing the top job since he was in grade school.
• And Newsom's family members teasingly asked in his college yearbook if his "next step" would be the presidency.