Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Greg Casar have introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, an aggressive proposal to permanently ban AI that exceeds human cognitive capabilities. The bill would establish a Cabinet-level Department of Artificial Intelligence and pause advanced development. While the bill faces long odds in a Republican-controlled Congress and opposition from President Donald Trump, it has gained notable endorsements from safety researchers at OpenAI and Google DeepMind.
Provisions of the Proposed Ban
- ▪The Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act defines artificial superintelligence as systems exceeding human cognitive ability or possessing capabilities to plan and execute the destruction or disempowerment of humanity
- ▪Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Greg Casar introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act on September 23, 2026, to permanently ban artificial superintelligence
- ▪Violating the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act would carry penalties including up to 20 years in prison and what the sponsors termed a corporate death penalty
Proposed Regulatory Oversight and Pause
- ▪The Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act would establish a Cabinet-level Department of Artificial Intelligence, led by a secretary of AI, to regulate and supervise advanced AI
- ▪The Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act would temporarily pause advanced AI development until the proposed Department of Artificial Intelligence establishes federal safety rules and a model review process
Prohibition of Recursive Self-Improvement
- ▪AI specialists warn that recursive self-improvement could allow AI systems to train themselves to become smarter and eventually escape human control
- ▪The Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act seeks to prohibit recursive self-improvement, which is defined as the capacity of an AI system to automate or greatly accelerate its own research and development
Industry Support for the Bill
- ▪Google DeepMind software engineer Swante Scholz supported the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, stating that the current path of AI development is most likely to result in an existential catastrophe for humanity
- ▪Multiple employees at leading AI companies, including OpenAI and Google DeepMind, signed a statement endorsing the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act
- ▪OpenAI Safety Systems researcher Juan Felipe Cerón Uribe endorsed the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, stating that superintelligence could go extremely right or extremely wrong and society should not play such games
US-China AI Safety Efforts
- ▪Seventeen Democratic senators, led by Senator Chris Van Hollen, sent a letter to President Donald Trump on September 23, 2026, urging him to negotiate an AI safety agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping
- ▪Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China's Vice Premier He Lifeng announced an agreement on an AI notification system to alert each country if the technology goes rogue
President Trump's Stance on AI
- ▪On September 22, 2026, President Donald Trump announced at the United Nations General Assembly that he would rename 'artificial intelligence' to 'super intelligence' for government documents
- ▪President Donald Trump has resisted calls for federal AI regulation, dismissing concerns about AI risks as a hoax and arguing that restrictions would only benefit China
Debatable claims
- ▪The United States should permanently ban artificial superintelligence
- ▪The United States should negotiate a mutual AI safety agreement with China
- ▪The US needs a cabinet-level Department of Artificial Intelligence
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