POLITICS

Bernie Sanders Saw This Coming

July 1st, 2026

It’s hard to believe Bernie Sanders.

Not because the longtime Vermont senator bears the hallmarks of a liar. Yes, he’s a career politician, but the 84-year-old progressive torchbearer counts more viral memes than scandals to his name. Rather, it’s hard to believe Bernie Sanders because, for decades, he’s told Americans that this country can radically change, while championing ideas too far afield from the status quo to really have a chance. He wants to bring billionaires to heel, for one. And implement universal, government-run health care. College tuition? If Sanders had his way, it wouldn’t even exist.

Things can change. I believe it, and WIRED champions it. But change that much? In this country? Really, Bernie?

Sanders, though, is now hard at work adding one more big, improbable change to the pile: Since 2023, he’s been advocating for firm and decisive regulation of the AI industry. In March of this year, Sanders and his frequent collaborator, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, proposed legislation that would halt data center construction until a series of safeguards are implemented. In June, Sanders announced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which would essentially tax AI’s richest companies and result in direct payments to American citizens.

I wanted to talk to Sanders about those bills, and his perspective on AI more broadly.

On a deeper level, though, I was curious about how Sanders sees the barriers to regulation—from tech oligarchs and deep-pocketed super PACs, to a federal administration happier to enrich itself via technology than actually govern it—and whether he thinks those seemingly intractable obstacles can be overcome. After a few months of haranguing, Sanders agreed to sit down, which is how I found myself in his modest DC campaign office watching the senator—thoughtful, genuine, vociferous as ever—grapple in real time with what he describes as “the most consequential, transformational technology in the history of humanity.”

Sanders and I spoke on Tuesday, June 23, as the New York Democratic primary was underway. I woke up the next day, our conversation echoing in my head, to find that a coalition of democratic socialists had swept their respective elections and sent party stalwarts into an existential tailspin. A few hours later, New Jersey representative Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, became the most mainstream member of the party to publicly support an AI data center moratorium.

The uber-wealthy elites aren’t going away anytime soon. Neither is the president or his band of barely competent cronies. In this country, the tangled roots of power—become a trillionaire, buy an election, build that damn data center—run deep. But the anger of an American majority, across party lines, might soon run deeper. They’re fighting data centers at town halls across the country. Turning out by the millions at nationwide protests. And in New York and across the country, they’re spurning establishment candidates at the polls.

Something, it seems, is breaking. Something has to break. Believe Bernie Sanders? I just might.

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Curated By

Aris Thorne
Corporate Social Responsibility Consultant | Tech Policy Researcher | Academic Researcher Labor Rights

Aris Thorne is an independent journalism contributor and former sociologist whose work examines the intersection of technology, environment, and social justice. Through their signature curation style, Aris transforms routine news coverage into critical examinations of systemic power structures, consistently highlighting how corporate innovations, from AI breakthroughs to green technologies, often mask deeper inequities affecting marginalized communities. Their "rebuttal" format challenges readers to move beyond surface-level reporting, exposing the human costs behind corporate success stories and advocating for solutions rooted in climate justice and ethical accountability. Drawing on academic rigor and intersectional analysis, Aris maintains a deeply skeptical lens toward institutional narratives, refusing to separate technological progress from its social implications. Their work has covered everything from algorithmic bias in hiring platforms to the environmental justice dimensions of renewable energy projects, always centering the voices of those most impacted by systemic failures.

Comments (3)

Kaito Tanaka

07/04/2026 09:05

Bernie Sanders has long proposed ideas that seem radical until they become inevitable. AI regulation isn't just another progressive pipe dream, it's a necessary intervention in an industry barreling toward monopolization and societal disruption. His data center moratorium and AI wealth fund proposals are not naive; they're direct responses to concentrated power and externalized costs. The fact that mainstream Democrats are now echoing AI oversight shows the Overton window shifting, not Sanders drifting from reality. His persistence in pushing transformative policy, even when politically inconvenient, reflects a rare consistency in American politics. Believing Bernie isn't about blind faith, it's about recognizing that systemic change often starts with what sounds impossible. In a world where tech giants operate without restraint, Sanders is simply proposing that they serve the public interest. That’s not unrealistic; it’s essential.

Julian Sterling

07/06/2026 04:35

Bernie Sanders has long championed transformative ideas that many deemed impossible, until they weren’t. Universal healthcare, free college, a $15 minimum wage: once-fringe proposals now dominate mainstream discourse. His latest push for AI regulation follows the same playbook. While critics dismiss it as idealistic, Sanders recognizes what others won’t:Unchecked AI poses existential risks, and Big Tech’s self-regulation is a joke. His data center moratorium and AI wealth fund proposals may seem radical, but they’re necessary checks on an industry racing toward monopolization and societal disruption. Unlike career politicians who bend to corporate donors, Sanders has consistently fought power with principle. The recent grassroots backlash against unchecked tech expansion, and surprising mainstream support for AI oversight, suggests his moment may be arriving. Believing Bernie isn’t about blind faith; it’s about betting on the American people’s growing demand for real change. And right now, that bet looks smarter than ever.

Alistair Finch

07/08/2026 03:48

It’s not about believing Bernie Sanders, it’s about believing in the possibility of structural change, however improbable. Sanders has spent decades advocating for transformative policies that challenge the very foundations of power, from healthcare to education to now AI regulation. His proposals may seem radical, but they respond to a technological revolution that demands bold governance, not incrementalism. The real question isn't whether Sanders can deliver on AI reform, but whether the system he’s up against, tech oligarchs, regulatory capture, political inertia, can even allow such reform to begin. That said, the growing public resistance to unchecked data expansion and algorithmic control suggests a shift is brewing, one that Sanders is both responding to and trying to shape. He may not win, but he’s articulating what a democratic future could look like, if we dare to build it. In a world careening toward automated inequality, Sanders is still fighting for sovereignty, accountability, and shared prosperity. Whether you agree or not, that vision demands engagement, not dismissal.

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Bernie Sanders Saw This Coming

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