Demand Progress

Washington, D.C. — Multiple news outlets have reported that President Donald Trump plans to announce “rate payer protection pledges” in which major AI companies promise to shoulder some of the energy costs of data centers. Poll after poll shows that Americans harbor serious doubts and fears about AI. Organic, grassroots opposition is also putting a stop to data centers across the country. Demand Progress led a coalition and organized a campaign asking Congress to oppose efforts to ban states from passing or enforcing AI laws.

The following is a statement from Demand Progress Policy Director Emily Peterson-Cassin: 

“President Trump’s rate pledges amount to worthless pinky swears from the multibillion dollar corporations who are trying to force us to sacrifice our jobs, our children, our privacy and our communities for an uncertain, AI-powered future that they can control and we won’t. In addition to providing a dubious balm to skyrocketing electricity bills, these pledges do nothing to address out-of-control AI that caused outages at Amazon Web Services, creates sexualized images of minors and has led teens in need of help to take their own lives. These pledges are nothing more than desperate damage control for companies who only now realize that voters see them as the villains of this story.”

Emily Peterson-Cassin will be available for comment during and following the State of the Union address. To reach her, please email press@demandprogress.org or call ‪(202) 642-6001‬.