Vitalik Buterin Pushes Back On Bernie Sanders’ Call To Pause AI Data Centres – Says Slowing AI Now Misses The Real Risk

• Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin disagreed with Sanders' request to stop AI data centers, saying that controlling computing power by 90% to 99% would be a better approach than a complete halt.
• Ethereum fell by roughly 1% as retail sentiment on Stocktwits fell from ‘bearish’ to ‘extremely bearish’ territory. 
• Decentralized AI projects are continuing to scale, evidenced by a new $5 million OpenLedger research award.
  
   

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin joined the rising debate around AI infrastructure on Wednesday, after U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders called for a halt to the construction of large-scale AI data centers. Bernie Sanders said on X that data centers are "powering the unregulated sprint to develop and deploy AI," and he is pushing to pause it. Sanders expressed mistrust toward billionaires and tech executives such as Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Bill Gates, whom he believes are utilizing AI at the expense of ordinary consumers. Sander additionally raised concern about youth alienation as a result of their reliance on AI for emotional support. He advocated for a data center moratorium to halt AI research and ensure democratic control over its advantages and risks.

In a response on X, Buterin argued that rather than slowing AI development now, policymakers and engineers should focus on building emergency controls - a 'pause button' - that could significantly reduce computing power by 90% to 99% if future risks become more acute.

Buterin also remarked that the conversation around AI has to be more detailed. According to him, there is a large gap between huge AI data centers and smaller AI systems that are smaller or decentralized. He suggests that putting limits on large-scale setups could slow down AI development in a safer way, without holding back smaller projects.

Ethereum (ETH) was trading at $2,929.78, down 1% over the past day. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Ethereum rose from ‘bearish’ to ‘extremely bearish’ zone, with chatter around the crypto dropping from ‘normal’ to 'low‘ levels over the day.

Decentralized AI Initiatives Continue to Expand

This comes at a time when blockchain and technology are utilizing AI. On Wednesday, OpenLedger and the Cambridge Centre for Blockchain Research announced a $5 million grant project to accelerate decentralized AI research.

The project is expected to enable students and academics to work on projects such as open datasets, verifiable training pipelines, attribution-based incentive systems, and language models built on the OPEN Mainnet. According to OpenLedger, the program's purpose is to accelerate decentralized AI testing while making AI system development more accessible and responsible.

Read also: Aave Slides Even With SEC Investigation Behind It And Expansion Plans Ahead
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