Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) blamed artificial intelligence executives for the recent growing backlash against the industry in an interview on Sunday.
“The people who have developed AI are very, very smart. But they’re high-IQ, stupid people,” Kennedy said while speaking with Kristen Welker of Meet the Press. “You might let them tutor you, but you wouldn’t want them to date your sister. They’re terrible marketers.”
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“They started out by saying we have this wonderful technology and it’s going to cost everybody their job and it costs a lot of money for electricity and your bills might go up and it uses a lot of water, but trust us, you’ll love it,” he said, knocking executives such as Sam Altman and Dario Amodei who have been criticized for failing to explain AI’s benefits to the public and dismantling arguments against the industry.
“AI and the data centers can get their momentum back,” he said, “but they’re going to have to do a few things.”
Kennedy then disagreed with President Donald Trump’s staunchly supportive view of data center construction, who said earlier in the week that communities that don’t support such development “want to end up being backward and poor.” Trump has remained steadfast in his efforts to ensure the United States leads AI development on the global stage and has, in recent weeks, spoken more often about the necessity of data centers.
Debates about their construction and broader bipartisan concerns about AI’s effect on the economy came into focus in August when multiple lawmakers, such as Govs. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) and Greg Abbott (R-TX), signed moratoriums on data center construction.
“First, they’re going to have to stop using so much water and go to a closed-loop system,” Kennedy said. “Number two, they’re going to have to provide their own energy. Number three, they’re going to have to devise buildings that are slightly aesthetic; I mean, the buildings they build now look like a broken arm with a bone sticking out. Number four, they’re going to have to stop going into these states and demanding all these tax subsidies and demanding all the tax breaks; they’re all rich. Number five, they’re going to have to talk straight up to the American people about what AI means.”
Kennedy also said the public “think, well, AI can make our lives better“ so long as the technology doesn’t affect employment or otherwise bring about existential effects. Polling shows deep public distrust of an emerging industry which relies heavily on physical infrastructure.
“They can get it back,” he said, “but they got work to do.”
