Bernie Sanders' big warning to Americans: All of these zillionaires — Musks, Ellisons, Bezoses are investing billions of dollars into AI and what is ...

Senator Bernie Sanders has now issued one of his starkest warnings yet about the rise of artificial intelligence. In an interview with NBC News, Sanders said that the technology’s explosive growth risks concentrating wealth and power among a handful of billionaires while leaving ordinary workers behind. Sanders cautioned that AI’s military applications could reshape global conflict. “I think we are not all that far away from the development of robotic soldiers,” he said. “If you don’t have to worry about loss of life, and what you worry about is loss of robots, what does that mean for issues of war and peace globally? It’s a big issue.”

All of these zillionaires are driving the AI race

The report further adds that Sanders linked the rise of AI to his long-standing concerns about wealth inequality. “The top 1% of Americans own more wealth than the bottom 93%. All of these zillionaires — the Musks, the Ellisons, the Bezoses, the Zuckerbergs — are investing hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars into AI and robotics. What is the result of all that?”


Along with this, Sanders has also warned that such investments could make the tech moguls even richer and more powerful politically, while weakening democracy and eroding living standards for working people.

Job and humanity at risk

Same has Bill Gates, Sanders also echoed the warnings from tech leaders including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei that AI could displace millions of jobs. “If I’m a factory worker today, if I’m working in an office, how am I going to feed my family? How am I going to pay the rent? Who is talking about that?”

Sanders also raised concerns about AI’s impact on human relationships, noting that teenagers increasingly rely on AI companions. “If kids today have AI as their best friends… what kind of change does that mean for humanity?”

Sanders also warned about the cooperation between AI companies and the U.S. military could erode privacy. “How far away are we from a small number of people having access to the email that you’ve sent out, every phone call that you’ve been on, really every aspect of your life? We’re not far.”

Policy proposals and pushback

Sanders has proposed measures to mitigate AI’s impact, including:

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• li1Employee ownership of companies
• li1A reduced workweek
• li1A potential robot tax on corporations to support displaced workers
• li1Breaking up dominant AI firms like OpenAI to prevent excessive concentration of power

He criticised venture capitalists and tech donors for funding super PACs to block regulation, likening their attitudes to monarchies of old.

Sanders also mentioned that he will host a town hall with AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton at Georgetown University to discuss AI’s trajectory and its effects on workers. He urged Congress and the public to accelerate debate, “This ain’t just another technological revolution. It is a lot more profound, and it’s going to move a lot quicker.”