Democratic 2028 hopefuls stake out AI positions from guardrails to moratorium

Polling shows 71% of Americans want stronger federal AI regulation

The story is set against a backdrop of mounting public concern about AI and its physical infrastructure. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll found 61% of voters opposed the construction of datacenters, while an SSRS/CNN poll found 71% of Americans believed the government was not doing enough to regulate the growth and development of artificial intelligence.

President Donald Trump has brushed off those concerns, insisting the United States must lead the world in AI development. The early crop of potential Republican candidates has largely followed the president’s lead. Democrats, by contrast, have called for guardrails, with some embracing calls for a slowdown in AI’s development.

Kamala Harris, the former vice-president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, has long advocated for guardrails around AI while also promoting growth in the United States. More recently, she has echoed calls for a slowdown in development. On September 14, Harris reiterated the need for stricter federal regulations around artificial intelligence after tech executives called for a slowdown in AI development. As vice-president, Harris led the Biden administration’s efforts to understand and mitigate the risks of AI; in 2023, she voiced concerns about short-term risks including the threat to democracy through disinformation and dissemination, as well as privacy.

Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, has pushed for stricter AI regulation in his state, where many of the major AI companies — including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google — are based. Though Newsom has promoted AI advancements in California, he has incrementally added safeguards: requiring large companies to publish best practices, adding whistleblower protections, including safeguards for young users and mandating a study to help companies retain employees rather than replace them. In September, Newsom signed an executive order urging companies to consider creating a “kill switch” after tech executives voiced concerns over the possibility that AI could harm humans.

Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, has taken a middle-ground approach to AI development and datacenter construction, advocating for technology investment with clear regulations to reduce harm. “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 said at an AI summit in September. Shapiro was an early adopter of AI development, championing AI investment in his state in 2024. He called for stricter federal regulations around the technology in September and signed an executive order in August to ensure datacenters meet stricter environmental and energy usage standards.

Andy Beshear, the governor of Kentucky, has enacted policies to regulate the construction of datacenters and recently called for stronger federal oversight on AI. In August, Beshear signed an executive order requiring datacenter developers to ensure they will not have a detrimental impact on the environment and taxpayers before building. He also called for the end of taxpayer incentives for the facilities.

Mark Kelly, a senator from Arizona, has called for safely implemented AI in the United States through congressional action and protections for workers whose jobs are affected by AI. Last year, Kelly published a roadmap suggesting the government create an “AI Horizon Fund” backed by AI companies that would finance education and training tools, support energy infrastructure and assist displaced employees. “I do believe there are benefits, and they could be significant,” Kelly told Politico in September. “I also see the national security implications of not getting this right and not being the leader.” Kelly told Politico he planned to introduce legislation establishing the fund.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a congresswoman from New York, has had concerns about the economic impact of AI and datacenters and has voiced skepticism about the rapid expansion and integration of the technology. “We’re talking about a massive economic bubble,” Ocasio-Cortez said during a House hearing last year. In June, she introduced companion legislation alongside Senator Bernie Sanders that would temporarily prohibit the construction of datacenters until Congress produces legislation to create guardrails for the environmental, safety and economic impacts of AI. Ocasio-Cortez also pushed back on Trump’s claim that only those who are “backwards and poor” would oppose datacenters being built in their communities. “How about we put one in Mar-a-Lago?” Ocasio-Cortez responded.

Ro Khanna, a progressive congressman from California who represents Silicon Valley, has called for stricter federal regulations on AI, specifically suggesting that the United States reach an agreement with China on basic guardrails. “The American people are deeply concerned about the future of AI and the potential risks,” Khanna said in a statement. “We urgently need an agreement with China on basic inspections and safety standards.” Khanna has compared winning the AI race to “winning a nuclear war” and said basic safety and misuse standards should be put in place before the United States and China compete. He has resisted calls from progressive leaders like Sanders to impose a moratorium on the expansion of AI datacenters.

Pete Buttigieg, the former secretary of transportation and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has voiced concerns about AI’s harms for years but more recently criticized the federal government for not moving fast enough to regulate the quickly evolving technology. As early as 2017, Buttigieg warned AI could hurt U.S. jobs or have other negative implications. Last year, Buttigieg published a Substack calling on U.S. leaders to take AI dangers more seriously, saying the country needs to “summon at least as much economic and political imagination today, as it took to handle the everyday impacts of the Great Depression, World War II, or the invention of electricity and later the Internet.” He recently reiterated his concerns about officials not moving quickly enough on AI, accusing Congress of “sitting on its hands” rather than regulating AI.

Across the spectrum, the candidates’ positions reflect a Democratic Party weighing AI’s economic potential against concerns about its environmental footprint, worker displacement and potential catastrophic harms. With Trump pressing to maintain U.S. dominance and no consensus emerging on how far federal regulation should go, those divisions are likely to remain visible through the 2028 primary.