PORTLAND — Democratic candidate for governor Troy Jackson wants artificial intelligence companies to build their own power sources and pay for upgrades if they bring data centers to Maine.
That’s just part of the “Agency over AI” plan he released Wednesday in Portland.
“AI may be new, it certainly is new to a lot of us, but the political question is old,” Jackson said. “Who benefits, who pays and who decides? Under the Jackson administration I can assure you that tech billionaires will not be deciding this alone and not be getting their way.”
In addition to requiring AI companies to pay their “fair share,” Jackson proposes safeguards to ensure AI doesn’t replace Maine workers, environmental oversight and transparency when AI is used by state government.
Jackson, a former Senate President, is one of five Democrats hoping to get his party’s nomination in Tuesday’s primary. He faces former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah, former House Speaker Hannah Pingree, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and businessman Angus King III.
On Wednesday morning, Shah released his AI plan, saying that he would have signed into law a bill that sought to put a temporary ban on data centers statewide.
Gov. Janet Mills, a fellow Democrat, vetoed the bill, saying she wanted an exemption for Jay, which has a data center project in the works at an old mill.
In addition to Shah, Jackson, Pingree and Bellows have all said they would have signed the temporary ban.
King has not said whether he would have signed or vetoed the bill.
Shah says his plan would pause large-scale data centers until the state has time to put “real guardrails” in place.
He’s also proposing statewide rules for AI use in schools and a ban on allowing AI to make final decisions about things such as healthcare and public safety.
Finally, his plan would require transparency if AI is used in hiring or other workplace decisions and allow consideration of using AI in state government if it will make it more efficient.
“AI is moving faster than Maine families, schools, workers and communities can keep up with,” Shah said. “Maine can use innovation where it helps people, but we cannot let Big Tech write the rules, exploit our kids, surveil workers, replace human judgment, or stick ratepayers with the bill.”
Jackson highlighted a labor leader, an educator and a local nurse at his press conference in Portland, all of whom warned of the potential impacts of AI technology.
Todd Chretian, a Portland educator, said cellphones and social media have been harmful to students and he’s worried about AI too.
“The one thing that the billionaires who run AI in this country have on their minds is getting their hands on the billions of dollars that go through our schools per year,” he said.