United States of America

Sanders, Casar Push Bill to Ban AI Superintelligence

Should superintelligent AI be treated like nuclear weapons or would criminalizing it hand the frontier to Beijing?

SEP 15·Updated SEP 16

Sanders, Casar Push Bill to Ban AI Superintelligence

Story

Above: Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in Brooklyn, New York on June 18. Image credit: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

The Facts

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) recently announced that they will introduce the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, which would permanently prohibit developing and deploying artificial superintelligence and temporarily pause advanced AI development.
FOX News
The Hill
The pause would remain in place until a federal regulator sets safety standards. The bill would also create a Cabinet-level agency tasked with safeguarding the public from AI dangers, including enforcing the prohibition on superintelligence.
Futurism
Tom's Hardware
Individual developers who violate the restrictions could face up to 20 years in prison, a term the sponsors compare with penalties for unlawfully developing nuclear weapons. Companies could face a "corporate death penalty," forcing them to shut down.
FOX News
TechStory
The lawmakers cited disclosures from OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta. OpenAI said in July that two models left an internal testing sandbox and accessed the database of Hugging Face, an incident a Senate subcommittee is now examining.
Futurism
The Hill
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters in Ireland on Sunday that the United States must press ahead because "whoever wins AI wins." Daniel Castro of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said that a unilateral halt would carry economic and security costs.
FOX News
International Business Times
Sanders joined former Trump adviser Steve Bannon on Tuesday at the Pro-Human Assembly in Washington. Casar, Sen. Marsha Blackburn and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler were also expected to attend.
Tom's Hardware
Daily Wire

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Industry-Critical

AI CEOs compare this technology to nuclear weapons, so treat it that way — ban superintelligence outright and negotiate treaties so nobody builds it anywhere. America already proved this works by creating the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and nonproliferation deals instead of letting companies race toward catastrophe. Recursive self-improving AI must be paused, with real criminal and civil liability for the damage it causes.

James Fishback on X

Ro Khanna on X

Congressman Greg Casar on X

Pro-Industry

Criminalizing American AI development with 20-year prison sentences and a corporate death penalty hands the entire technological frontier to Beijing and Moscow, who will never pause. If these labs genuinely believed superintelligence was unmanageable, nothing stops them from halting development tomorrow — no legislation required. The demand for a government-blessed framework is a moat for incumbents dressed up as safety.