Maxine Waters's Record on AI

Maxine Waters's Position on AI

Maxine Waters formally supports a moratorium on construction and upgrades of covered AI data centers. She is listed as a cosponsor of H.R. 9442, the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, and the bill status record does not list her as an original cosponsor. Upon enactment, the bill would halt construction or upgrading of new or existing covered facilities.

Her record also includes yea votes on two AI-related House measures. She voted yes on the AI for Main Street Act, a House-passed bill that would require small business development centers to help businesses evaluate and use AI. She also voted yes on the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which became law in May 2025 and restricts knowingly publishing nonconsensual intimate depictions, including specified digital forgeries made with AI or other software.

Her formal record does not establish opposition to every form or use of AI. In July 2026, Waters launched a request for information on AI risks and benefits in financial services, asking for public views on regulatory gaps and consumer and investor protection.

The moratorium and the resolution on bailouts for insolvent AI-related firms are proposals, and neither has passed a chamber in the official record. She is also a cosponsor of H.Res. 1642, which opposes exceptional bailouts for insolvent AI-related firms. Among the measures named here, only the TAKE IT DOWN Act has become law.

Background at a Glance

Waters was born on August 15, 1938, and was 88 years old on November 4, 2026, based on that birth date.

Background and Political Leaning

Waters was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the fifth of 13 children. Her official biography describes factory and restaurant work, followed by garment and telephone jobs in Los Angeles.

She earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from California State University at Los Angeles in 1971, according to the Congressional Directory. Her official biography also lists work as a Head Start teacher and volunteer coordinator.

Her government career includes a 1973 post as chief deputy to Los Angeles city councilman David S. Cunningham, Jr., according to the directory. She served in the California State Assembly from 1976 to 1990, and her biography says those 14 years came before she entered Congress.

The directory entries describe her career history and do not guarantee her current committee assignments.

Her official biography identifies membership or leadership in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. That affiliation does not establish agreement with every policy or a more specific ideology, so no finer political label is assigned here.

Statements and Actions on AI

Waters's October 29, 2026 statement opposes taxpayers rescuing AI firms or executives after reckless financial bets. A Congressional Progressive Caucus release dated October 29, 2026 attributes this line to her: "The American people should never again be forced to foot the bill for billionaires' reckless bets."

The same statement supports help for ordinary people. The release is joint with Rep. Casar, so the quotation is limited to the line it attributes to Waters, and the release does not independently establish the harms it describes.

On July 7, 2026, Waters launched a request for information on AI risks and modernization in financial services. It asks for public views on potential benefits and risks, existing legal powers, and regulatory gaps, with the stated aim of responsible innovation and consumer and investor protection.

A request for information asks for input, and it does not create a regulation or ban. The release also criticizes the rescinding of guidance on applying federal law to AI decisions and efforts to dismantle oversight by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Those are policy criticisms by Waters, and the release does not establish the legal effect of the actions it names.

Policies Supported and Opposed

Waters cosponsored one data center moratorium bill, recorded yea votes on two AI-related House measures, and cosponsored a resolution opposing exceptional bailouts for insolvent AI-related firms.

Only the TAKE IT DOWN Act is enacted among these items. The AI for Main Street Act is awaiting Senate action, and its Section 3 authorizes no additional funding.

The enacted TAKE IT DOWN Act requires covered platforms to provide a notice and removal process within one year of enactment and to remove covered depictions within 48 hours of a valid request. It is a specific restriction on harmful uses, not a ban on AI or synthetic media.

The moratorium bill's operative terms, as introduced, are these:

H.Res. 1642 expresses a House position opposing exceptional bailouts for insolvent AI-related firms and exposed financial institutions. It also supports ordinary bankruptcy and resolution, worker and consumer assistance, retirement protection and financial reforms. It does not appropriate money or enact an enforceable ban on AI-company bailouts.

• Covered facilities: one branch covers facilities used for AI models at scale. The other covers facilities over 20 megawatts (MW) with high-density rack power of at least 20 kilowatts (kW) or liquid or immersion cooling. The text does not automatically cover every server facility.
• Pause: halts construction or upgrading of new or existing covered facilities upon enactment, with no fixed one-year expiry.
• Ending the pause: it ends only after laws establish product review, worker and benefit-sharing protections, utility and environmental protections, community approval, a bar on subsidies, and union labor standards, and the pause is expressly terminated.
• Reporting: quarterly public Energy Department reports on financing, water, power, emissions, wastewater, cooling chemicals, noise, jobs, agreements and subsidies. Verification powers include inspections and subpoenas.
• Exports: would restrict computing-infrastructure exports, reexports and in-country transfers for covered AI uses to entities in countries without comparable safeguards.

Current Office and the 2026 Election

Waters holds the U.S. Representative seat for California's 43rd District as listed in the February 20, 2026 directory, and she is seeking reelection in the same district.

NBC News Decision Desk projected on November 3, 2026, that she would win reelection, according to NBC Los Angeles. That projection is not an Associated Press call, and the sources cited here contain no certified result.

The directory predates the November 2026 election, so it cannot confirm that result.

Scope and Open Questions

The record here is bounded, so it does not settle how Waters would vote on other AI policies. It covers specific bills, votes, statements and reports, not every AI statement or roll-call vote she has cast. The record has no separately sourced personal statement endorsing AI benefits beyond the aim of responsible innovation in the financial-services request.

A cosponsorship is a formal listing. It is not a roll-call vote or a personal quotation. A yea vote on the AI for Main Street Act supports the whole bill and does not show support for each provision.

The bill status for H.R. 9442 lists a June 24, 2026, referral as its latest action, yet it dates Waters's cosponsorship to July 13, 2026. The status record does not explain that mismatch. The record also contains no individually spoken quotation tied to H.R. 9442.

To check the current stage of H.R. 9442, open the bill status record and read its newest action date. Then open the January 20, 2026 Clerk roll call to confirm the vote row for the AI for Main Street Act.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Maxine Waters oppose artificial intelligence?

The record does not show blanket opposition to AI. She cosponsored a moratorium on covered AI data centers and voted yes on the AI for Main Street Act and the TAKE IT DOWN Act. Her October 29, 2026 statement opposes taxpayers rescuing AI firms or executives after reckless financial bets, while supporting help for ordinary people.

Is the AI data center moratorium law?

No. H.R. 9442 is an introduced bill referred to committees, with no passage or enactment in the official record. If it became law, it would halt construction or upgrading of covered facilities, and the pause would end only after the bill's listed conditions are met.

Did Maxine Waters sponsor H.R. 9442?

She is listed as a cosponsor, and the bill status record does not list her as an original cosponsor. Cosponsorship shows formal support, but it is not a roll-call vote or a personal quotation.

Has Maxine Waters been reelected?

No certified result appears in the sources cited here. NBC News Decision Desk projected on November 3, 2026, that she would win reelection in California's 43rd District, and that projection is not an Associated Press call.

Which of her AI votes became law?

Only the TAKE IT DOWN Act among the measures in this profile. The House passed it 409 to 2 on April 28, 2025, with Waters voting yes, and it became Public Law 119-12 on May 19, 2025.