Sanders, Casar Unveil Plan to Ban Superintelligent AI

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar on Sept. 23, 2026, unveiled a bill provided first to the Associated Press that would permanently ban artificial superintelligence, temporarily pause development of the most advanced AI systems until a new cabinet-level Department of Artificial Intelligence sets safety rules, and require federal approval before advanced systems are deployed. The ban covers systems that exceed human cognitive ability or can plan and execute humanity's destruction or disempowerment. Public descriptions specify no compute, benchmark, or training-cost threshold. Penalties include up to 20 years in prison for some individuals and what sponsors call a corporate death penalty, along with international agreements, allied coordination, and export controls. OpenAI's Juan Felipe Cerón Uribe said superintelligence could go extremely right or extremely wrong and we should not be playing such games. Google DeepMind's Swante Scholz said the most likely outcome is an existential catastrophe for humanity. Sanders said Trump has very little understanding of the issue and is mainly concerned about the economic implications of a slowdown. Trump addressed the U.N. General Assembly. A White House summit with Xi Jinping is this week. No bill number was identified. The measure faces long odds in the Republican-controlled Congress. No factual disputes found in the record.