Sanders Bill Would Ban Superintelligent AI, Create Federal Agency

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar unveiled legislation Wednesday that would permanently ban artificial superintelligence and establish a new federal Department of Artificial Intelligence to oversee the technology, marking one of the most aggressive regulatory proposals yet from Congress.

The bill, first reported by the Associated Press, would also impose a temporary pause on advanced AI development until new federal safety guidelines are implemented. Systems meeting the definition of advanced AI would require federal approval before deployment, with violations carrying penalties of up to 20 years in prison in some cases.

Defining the red line

The legislation defines artificial superintelligence as any system that exceeds human cognitive ability or possesses sufficient capabilities to plan and execute the destruction or disempowerment of humanity. That threshold would trigger a permanent prohibition under the proposed law.

"Do we really want to develop a super intelligence that when it becomes smarter than human beings could act independently of human control? I don't think we do," Sanders told the Associated Press.

Multiple employees at leading AI companies have endorsed the bill. Juan Felipe Cerón Uribe, a researcher in OpenAI's Safety Systems, said in a statement that "superintelligence could either go extremely right or extremely wrong" and that "we shouldn't be playing such games." Swante Scholz, a software engineer at Google DeepMind speaking in his personal capacity, warned that without intervention, "the most likely outcome is an existential catastrophe for humanity."

Why it matters

The Sanders-Casar bill represents a sharp departure from the incremental approach Congress has taken on AI regulation to date. While lawmakers have held numerous hearings and some industry leaders have called for oversight, no major federal AI legislation has advanced. This proposal draws a clear line on what progressive Democrats consider unacceptable AI development as the technology becomes a defining issue for the 2028 presidential campaign. The bill also highlights growing tension between calls for safety measures from some AI researchers and President Trump's resistance to regulation.

Political headwinds

The bill faces steep odds in the Republican-controlled Congress, where even modest AI regulations have struggled to gain traction. President Trump has dismissed AI safety concerns, telling the United Nations General Assembly this week that artificial intelligence will be renamed "super intelligence" while showing little interest in new restrictions.

Sanders, who chairs no committee but remains influential in progressive circles, acknowledged the challenge of slowing U.S. development while China advances its own AI capabilities. He compared the situation to Cold War nuclear arms control, arguing that "Ronald Reagan, arch-conservative, was smart enough to understand that he had to sit down with Gorbachev, a communist, and work out a nuclear treaty that protected humanity."

Casar, a Texas Democrat who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is co-sponsoring the House version. The timing positions both lawmakers ahead of November midterm elections where AI regulation is expected to feature prominently.

Public concern about AI's environmental impact has grown significantly, with 53% of Americans now extremely or very concerned, up from 41% last year, according to recent polling from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The details were first reported by Joey Cappelletti of the Associated Press.