Bernie Sanders Slams Big Tech as AI Industry Spends $300 Million to Crush Tougher Regulation — ‘81% of Americans’ Say Congress Isn’t Doing Enough

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) argued that public demand for stronger AI oversight is being undermined by the technology industry's growing political spending against candidates who support tougher regulation.

Sanders Targets AI Spending

On Tuesday, in a post on X, Sanders said, "81% of Americans believe Congress isn’t doing enough to regulate AI."

He added, "They’re right. Why? 3 words: Follow the money."

The Vermont senator argued the AI industry is spending more than $300 million against candidates who want stronger AI regulation. He urged lawmakers to resist pressure from powerful technology companies.

"Tell Congress to stand up to Big Tech Oligarchs. Regulate AI," Sanders said./p> figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x">div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">

81% of Americans believe Congress isn’t doing enough to regulate AI.br>br>They’re right. Why?br>br>3 words: Follow the money.br>br>The AI industry is spending over $300 million against candidates who want to regulate AI.br>br>Tell Congress to stand up to Big Tech Oligarchs. Regulate AI./p>— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) September 8, 2026/blockquote> /div>/figure> div class="bz-read-next-block" data-variant="card" data-news-mode="manual" >

strong> Read Also: a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/tech/26/07/60268084/trump-wont-create-ai-regulator-says-former-white-house-adviser-sriram-krishnan-amid-data-center-backlash-that-is-never-never-going-to-happen" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Trump Won't Create AI Regulator, Says Former White House Adviser Sriram Krishnan Amid Data Center Backlash: 'That Is Never, Never Going To Happen…'/a> /strong> /p>

Experts Warned About AI Risks and Regulation

Earlier this month, George Clooney questioned whether lawmakers were equipped to regulate AI, warning, "These are not the people that you want to entrust the holy grail with."

He also warned that AI-generated falsehoods, fabricated legal information and deepfakes could make it harder to distinguish reality from fiction.

Last month, Sen. Mark Warner said Congress needed to address AI’s economic and national security risks, stating, "We can’t put AI back in the bottle."

He called for policies to protect jobs, strengthen national security and help the U.S. "outcompete our adversaries."

In June, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) similarly warned that AI was reshaping work, energy infrastructure and the economy.

He said his "AI for America" plan sought to keep the U.S. competitive while ensuring AI’s benefits reached beyond major technology companies.

AI Companies Attracted Major Fundingbr>

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Earlier, Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)/a> planned to spend about $300 million on Anthropic’s AI for coding, with CEO Marc Benioff calling the startup "a rocket ship that will not stop."

Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD)/a> reportedly backed a $300 million loan for AI infrastructure startup Crusoe, helping it secure financing to deploy AMD chips while advancing AMD’s efforts to compete with Nvidia.

PhysicsX raised an oversubscribed $300 million Series C at a valuation of about $2.4 billion. The company planned to use the funding to expand globally and develop more powerful physics AI models for industrial engineering.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors./p> div class="bz-read-next-block" data-variant="card" data-news-mode="manual" >

strong> Read Also: a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/tech/26/08/61377068/david-sacks-calls-ai-regulation-a-trojan-horse-to-shut-down-open-models-while-chamath-palihapitiya-warns-us-investment-could-go-off-of-a-cliff" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> David Sacks Calls AI Regulation a 'Trojan Horse' to Shut Down Open Models, While Chamath Palihapitiya Warns US Investment Could 'Go Off of a Cliff'/a> /strong> /p>

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