Sen. Bernie Sanders unveils bill to ban artificial superintelligence and create Department of AI

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar introduced legislation Wednesday to permanently ban artificial superintelligence and create a Department of Artificial Intelligence to oversee advanced AI systems. The bill, shared first with The Associated Press, defines superintelligence as a system exceeding human cognitive ability or capable of planning humanity's destruction. It would pause development of the most advanced systems until the new department sets federal safety rules, after which such systems would need federal approval before deployment, with violations carrying penalties up to 20 years in prison in some cases, according to PBS NewsHour.

Several current employees at major AI companies endorsed the bill. Juan Felipe Cerón Uribe, a researcher at OpenAI's Safety Systems, said superintelligence "could either go extremely right or extremely wrong." Swante Scholz, a Google DeepMind software engineer speaking only for himself, warned that the current path risks "an existential catastrophe for humanity." Sanders told the AP, "It doesn't take a genius to say, 'slow it down.'"

The measure faces long odds in the Republican-controlled Congress; Casar chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Other Democrats considering 2028 presidential runs have also acted on AI, with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announcing a plan Tuesday and California Gov. Gavin Newsom signing an executive order on state oversight. Sanders, 85, earlier proposed taxing large AI companies' stock to fund a sovereign wealth fund and recently joined an AI conference alongside Steve Bannon. Sanders said President Donald Trump, who told the United Nations AI would be renamed "super intelligence," has "very little understanding" of the issue.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →