H.R. 9442, AI Development Moratorium with Export Controls. Quorum's AI analysis reads it as a trade-off: gains for some, costs for others.
H.R. 9442 · Mixed
What it does
This bill imposes a nationwide moratorium on construction or expansion of large artificial intelligence data centers (defined as facilities with 20+ megawatts of power capacity or specialized cooling systems) until Congress passes laws requiring federal pre-approval of AI products, policies to prevent job displacement, wealth-sharing from AI gains, and community approval rights for new data centers. It also directs the Department of Energy to report quarterly on all AI data centers and requires the Commerce Department to restrict exports of computing hardware used for AI development to countries lacking comparable AI safety regulations.
The analysis names Domestic AI companies (by restricting foreign competition via export controls) — and 2 more groups — among the beneficiaries.
The trade-off
The moratorium's termination depends on passage of laws with vague criteria ('safe and effective' AI, 'shared wealth')—Congress may never pass legislation meeting these undefined standards, making the moratorium indefinite.
The analysis put a high warning level on this bill. Transparency scores 55%, and the analysis found no provisions unrelated to the bill's subject.
Who is behind it
Filed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Cosponsored by Adelita Grijalva, André Carson, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Chuy García.