Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act

The proposed moratorium on artificial intelligence data centers falls within the enumerated powers of Congress to regulate commerce among the several states and to promote the progress of science and useful arts. Data centers facilitating artificial intelligence necessarily engage in interstate commerce through the transmission of data, energy consumption, and economic activities spanning state lines, akin to the commercial intercourse Hamilton described as vital to national union. Such regulation, including temporary restraints for public exigency, is a legitimate exercise of federal authorit…

A federal moratorium on artificial intelligence data centers exceeds the enumerated powers of Congress, intruding upon the reserved rights of the States and the people to regulate local industries, commerce within their borders, and private property use. Such a prohibition is not among the specific grants in Article I, Section 8, particularly not under the commerce power which is limited to interstate trade, nor does it serve a purpose like defense or post roads. The Tenth Amendment reserves all such undelegated powers to the States or the people, preserving individual liberty from centralized…

The proposed Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act exceeds the enumerated powers of Congress, as there is no provision in the Constitution granting authority to impose a federal moratorium on the construction or operation of private data centers, which pertain to local land use, infrastructure, and economic activities properly reserved to the States. Such a measure intrudes upon the sphere of State sovereignty, where powers not delegated to the federal government remain. This risks consolidating undue authority in the national legislature, contrary to the careful balance designed …

The proposed Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act falls within the enumerated powers of Congress to regulate commerce among the several states and with foreign nations, as data centers integral to artificial intelligence facilitate the transmission of intelligence across state lines and international boundaries, constituting commerce subject to federal authority. Such a temporary restraint is a legitimate exercise of that power, and where the end is constitutional, the means, including a moratorium, are implied as necessary and proper to effectuate it, provided they do not exceed…