US senator targets AI data centres in EU-style bill

Senator Ed Markey on Friday unveiled an "AI accountability agenda," a package of nearly a dozen bills designed to establish federal safeguards for artificial intelligence. The centrepiece is a forthcoming bill requiring companies to obtain Federal Communications Commission certification before building data centres, proving the site "will not harm the public interest."

For European investors and tech companies, the proposal signals a potential closing of the transatlantic regulatory gap. Since ChatGPT's arrival in 2022, Washington has largely avoided federal AI legislation, leaving US firms operating under fewer constraints than their European counterparts. Markey's framework explicitly mirrors the EU's up-front, precautionary approach, built around the AI Act and GDPR.

If enacted, the data centre rules would directly affect the infrastructure strategies of major tech operators. The FCC would be required to evaluate a facility's impact on air and water quality, noise, energy costs, grid reliability, local wildlife and the economy, consulting the Environmental Protection Agency and local zoning boards. “We need to make sure these datacenters don’t turn into pollution bombs,” Markey said.

The infrastructure bill is part of a broader effort to curb specific AI harms. Markey wants mandatory independent bias audits for high-stakes algorithms and restrictions on employers using automated systems to hire, fire or promote staff. He also seeks to ban chatbot firms from allowing children to become emotionally dependent on their products and to require hospitals to maintain human overrides for AI decisions.

Markey's legislative push is grounded in cases of alleged harm, including a rural Georgia resident left unable to drink her tap water after a local data centre was built, and parents who say a chatbot groomed their 14-year-old son before his death by suicide. He argues that relying on a state-by-state patchwork of laws “would leave too many people exposed,” stating that “Every American is entitled to these safeguards.”

The legislation faces long odds in a Congress that has prioritised speed over guardrails, with most of Markey's previous AI bills stalled. However, there are signs of shifting momentum. In March, the Senate passed a bill restricting targeted advertising to minors, and other lawmakers are pushing to force tech companies to pay the power bills driven by rising data centre demands.