Steve Cohen's Record on AI
A conditional data center pause bill and a yes vote on AI business aid
Steve Cohen's public AI record is short and formal. It includes bill cosponsorships, one recorded House vote on an AI business-assistance bill, and a February 2026 letter about xAI's power generation in Memphis. It also includes one recorded absence on a law covering nonconsensual intimate images, including certain AI-made forgeries.
Each action carries different weight. A cosponsorship is a formal sponsorship record, a yes vote is one floor decision, and a letter is a request.
- Party
- Democratic
- State
- Tennessee
- Office
- U.S. Representative, Tennessee's 9th congressional district (current)
- Age
- 77 as of 2026-11-05 · Source
- Political Leaning
- Not established beyond party affiliation.
- Election Status
- Not seeking election in the redrawn 2026 districts and retiring after the 119th Congress, according to his official biography as of May 2026. He remains the Tennessee 9th district representative until his term ends.
Steve Cohen's Position on AI
Steve Cohen formally supports a moratorium on construction and upgrades of covered AI data centers. The status record for H.R. 9442, the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, lists him as a cosponsor as of June 24, 2026.
The pause is conditional, not a fixed-term ban. It would start on enactment and end only after specified protections are established by law, and the bill has not been enacted.
The record also includes supportive AI policy. Cohen voted yes on the House motion to suspend the rules and pass the AI for Main Street Act, H.R. 5764, on January 20, 2026. That bill would require small business development centers to help businesses evaluate and use AI, and the inspected records do not list him as a sponsor of it.
The record does not establish opposition to every form or use of AI. One position restricts a type of AI infrastructure, and the other supports small-business use of AI.
Background at a Glance
Steve Cohen is a Democrat and a U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 9th congressional district, according to the Congressional Directory.
The directory supplies his party, office, birth date and education. His official biography supplies his election status.
The age row is a calculation from the directory birth date, not a separately published figure.
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Party | Democratic | Congressional Directory |
| Current office | U.S. Representative, Tennessee's 9th district | Congressional Directory |
| Born | May 24, 1949, in Memphis, Tennessee | Congressional Directory |
| Age | 77 as of November 4, 2026 | Calculated from the directory birth date |
| Education | B.A., Vanderbilt University, 1971; J.D., University of Memphis, 1973 | Congressional Directory |
| Office sought | No seat sought in the redrawn 2026 districts | Official biography |
Background and Political Leaning
Cohen was born in Memphis, Tennessee. The directory lists his career as a sequence of legal and public posts, beginning with legal adviser to the Memphis Police Department, and it describes that sequence as historical career history.
According to the Congressional Directory, he earned a B.A. from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1971, and a J.D. from the University of Memphis in 1973. The official biography adds that he served 24 years in the Tennessee State Senate and advocated for a state education lottery before his 2006 election to the House.
The inspected record does not establish a finer ideological label for Cohen. This page does not infer one from his Democratic Party affiliation, and the record does not state his reasons for the AI actions described below.
- Legal adviser, Memphis Police Department, 1975 to 1978
- Vice president, Tennessee State Constitutional Convention, 1977
- Commissioner, Shelby County, 1978 to 1980
- Lawyer in private practice, 1978 to 2006
- Member, Tennessee State Senate, 1982 to 2006
- Delegate, Democratic National Convention, in 1980, 1992, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024
- Member, U.S. House of Representatives, elected in 2006
Statements and Actions on AI
Cohen's personal AI action in the inspected record is a February 25, 2026 letter to xAI about its power generation in Memphis.
He announced the request in a press release that frames the issue as xAI's power generation impact on public health. The letter asks for greater transparency about several subjects.
The letter asks about permits and emissions tied to xAI's power generation in Memphis, pollution controls and mitigation, and advance public notice and community feedback. The same letter also recognizes the economic potential of data centers and seeks AI training opportunities for Memphis residents.
The letter is a request. It does not show that xAI complied, it is not a court finding, and the record does not independently verify the health estimates it cites.
The inspected record lists no other individual AI statement from Cohen. The search behind that list was bounded, so the absence does not prove that no other statement exists.
Policies Supported and Opposed
Cohen's roll-call record on AI contains one yes vote and one Not Voting entry, and it contains no nay vote on an AI policy. The table lists his formal roles and votes in date order, with the status recorded in the inspected sources.
Proposed and enacted status differ across these rows. H.R. 6371, H.R. 7858, H.R. 8488 and H.R. 9442 are introduced bills, and H.R. 5764 passed the House and went to the Senate. S. 146 is the only measure in the table that became law.
H.R. 9442 is the bill in the table whose pause text is in this record, and the text reviewed is the introduced version, not law. Its covered-facility definition includes facilities used for AI models at scale. A second branch covers facilities over 20 megawatts with high-density rack power of at least 20 kilowatts, or with liquid or immersion cooling, and the definition does not automatically cover every server facility.
The pause ends only after laws establish each item below and expressly terminate the pause. Cohen's cosponsorship is the only inspected record of his position on these provisions.
The bill would also require quarterly public Energy Department reports covering financing, water, power, emissions, wastewater, cooling chemicals, noise, jobs, agreements and subsidies. Verification powers include inspections and subpoenas, and the bill restricts exports, reexports and in-country transfers of computing infrastructure for covered AI uses to entities in countries without comparable safeguards.
H.R. 5764 would give small business development centers information, guidance, training and outreach on best practices, business operations, data and intellectual property, cybersecurity, regulatory compliance and trust. Its Section 3 authorizes no additional funding, and a yes vote supports the whole bill rather than one provision.
S. 146 passed the Senate by unanimous consent on February 13, 2025, so the record has no individual Senate roll call on it. The House passed it 409 to 2 on April 28, 2025, and it became Public Law 119-12 on May 19, 2025.
The enacted law 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 narrow restriction on harmful uses, not a ban on AI or synthetic media. Cohen's Not Voting entry does not show opposition or a reason.
- Product review laws
- Worker and benefit-sharing protections
- Utility and environmental protections
- Community approval
- No subsidies
- Union labor standards
| Date | Bill | Cohen's role | Status in the record | What the bill does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 28, 2025 | S. 146, TAKE IT DOWN Act | Not Voting on Clerk roll call 104 | Passed the House 409 to 2; became Public Law 119-12 on May 19, 2025 | Addresses knowing publication of nonconsensual intimate depictions, including certain AI-made forgeries |
| December 3, 2025 | H.R. 6371, No Robot Bosses Act | Cosponsor, not original; role record dated June 24, 2026 | Referred to Education and Workforce, with House Administration and Oversight and Government Reform | Operative provisions are not in this record |
| January 20, 2026 | H.R. 5764, AI for Main Street Act | Yes on Clerk roll call 33 | Passed the House 395 to 14; referred in the Senate to Small Business and Entrepreneurship on January 26, 2026 | Would require small business development centers to help businesses evaluate and use AI |
| March 5, 2026 | H.R. 7858, Data Center Community Impact Act | Original cosponsor | Referred to Energy and Commerce | Operative provisions are not in this record |
| April 23, 2026 | H.R. 8488, AI Data Center Site Selection Transparency Act of 2026 | Original cosponsor | Referred to Energy and Commerce | Operative provisions are not in this record |
| June 24, 2026 | H.R. 9442, Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act | Cosponsor | Referred to Energy and Commerce and Foreign Affairs; no enactment recorded | Conditional pause on covered AI data centers; quarterly reporting; export limits |
Current Office and the 2026 Election
Cohen is not seeking election in the redrawn 2026 districts, and he is retiring after the 119th Congress, according to his official biography.
The record does not include a state certification of 2026 results. That absence is a gap in this record, not evidence that certification has not happened.
The February 20, 2026 directory cannot verify November 2026 results, so it is not a source for the outcome of any 2026 race. The record also does not identify which district, if any, he will represent after the 119th Congress.
- Current office: U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 9th district, through the end of his current term
- Election status: not seeking election in the redrawn 2026 districts, as of May 2026
- Announcement date: the record gives only the month, May 2026
Scope and Open Questions
The record does not show whether Cohen supports or opposes most AI uses. It is a bounded record of formal actions and one personal letter.
Three cosponsored bills in the table, H.R. 6371, H.R. 7858 and H.R. 8488, are listed without their operative provisions in this record. Their content cannot be described beyond their titles and referral status.
H.R. 9442 has no enactment recorded, and the inspected status record lists referral as its latest action. Its status after June 24, 2026 is not in this record.
Opposition to all AI is not established. The only recorded vote on an AI-use bill is a yes vote, and the Not Voting entry on the TAKE IT DOWN Act does not establish opposition or motive. The record does not state his reasons for any action, so none is attributed here.
To confirm the yes vote, open Clerk roll call 33. To read the introduced text of the moratorium bill, use the Congress.gov text of H.R. 9442. Start with the H.R. 9442 status record on GovInfo, because its latest-action date shows whether the bill has moved since June 24, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Steve Cohen support an AI data center moratorium?
He is a cosponsor of H.R. 9442, the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act. The bill would pause construction and upgrades of covered AI data centers, and the pause ends only after specified laws are established. The introduced text is not law, and the inspected status record shows referral to committees as its latest action.
Has Steve Cohen voted against any AI bill?
The inspected record shows no nay vote by Cohen on an AI policy. It shows a yes vote on the AI for Main Street Act on January 20, 2026, and a Not Voting entry on the TAKE IT DOWN Act on April 28, 2025.
A Not Voting entry does not establish opposition or the reason for the absence.
Did Steve Cohen sponsor the AI for Main Street Act?
The inspected records do not list him as a sponsor. His recorded action on H.R. 5764 is a yes vote on the House motion to suspend the rules and pass it as amended. The House passed the bill 395 to 14, and the bill text is the House-passed version.
Is Steve Cohen running for reelection in 2026?
No. His official biography says he is not seeking election in the redrawn 2026 districts and is retiring after the 119th Congress. He remains the Tennessee 9th district representative until his term ends.