Robotic soldiers edging closer to reality and billionaire-driven artificial intelligence power set off a new warning about what comes next.
"I think we are not all that far away from the development of robotic soldiers," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT.) told NBC News recently, warning that rapid advances in robotics could change how decisions about war are made once machines begin replacing human soldiers on the battlefield.
Rising Fears Over AI Power
Sanders said the threshold for military action may shift once leaders no longer weigh human loss.
"If you don't have to worry about loss of life, and what you worry about is loss of robots, what does that mean for issues of war and peace globally?" he asked, adding that politicians "at least sometimes — have to worry about loss of life when they decide to go to war."
Sanders, long known for highlighting wealth concentration, tied AI to those concerns. He told NBC News, the top 1% of Americans hold more wealth than the bottom 93%.
According to Sanders, technology leaders, including Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) co-founder Larry Ellison, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos, and Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg are investing "hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars" into AI and robotics, shaping who will hold influence as the technology evolves.
He said these investments could further centralize power at the top while weakening democratic systems.
Tech Investment Surges
In recent months, AI spending has continued to accelerate across major companies. The trend has grown as firms respond to the Trump administration's push to keep the U.S. AI ecosystem "unencumbered by bureaucratic red tape," according to the White House's America's AI Action Plan.
At the same time, Sanders wrote in a recent Fox News opinion editorial that there are sharp disagreements over the impact of AI, including who will gain from its expansion and who may be left behind.
Sanders told NBC News that researchers believe AI is advancing faster than earlier technological shifts, and as a result, lawmakers at both the state and federal levels have begun expanding oversight efforts.
A House subcommittee held a hearing earlier this month on the safety of AI chatbots as concerns increase about accuracy, misuse, and emerging risks.
Sanders also raised social questions, telling NBC News that some families worry about teenagers forming emotional ties with AI tools rather than peers. He said the shift could affect long-term social behavior as young people spend more time interacting with systems designed to mimic human connection.
Workers And Wealth Concentration
Sanders told NBC News that AI could cause "massive, massive job dislocation," citing public warnings from business leaders.
For example, Musk said in a recent post on X, "AI and robots will replace all jobs. Working will be optional," a point he also echoed last week at the U.S.–Saudi Investment Forum.
As he referenced Musk's prediction, Sanders asked, "But what the hell does that mean if it's going to replace all jobs? If I'm a factory worker today, if I'm working in an office, how am I going to feed my family? How am I going to pay the rent? Who is talking about that?"