Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Greg Casar have called for a ban on artificial superintelligence, though as of early September 2026, no legislation titled the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act has been formally introduced.
What the proposal would target
The lawmakers have focused on what researchers call artificial general intelligence (AGI) and artificial superintelligence (ASI). AGI refers to an AI that can perform any cognitive task a human can, across any domain. ASI would outperform humans at essentially everything cognitive. Neither exists yet, but the race to build AGI has become a central focus of companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and Meta’s AI division.
The backstory: months of escalation
On August 2, 2026, Casar publicly declared AI safety an “emergency,” calling for congressional hearings that would put AI executives under oath. He has been leading a group of House Democrats pushing for direct testimony from the people building these systems.
Eight days later, on August 10, Sanders sent letters to the CEOs of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta, demanding they pause frontier AI development. His argument drew on safety concerns that the companies themselves have acknowledged in their own research publications.
In March 2026, Sanders teamed up with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to introduce the AI Data Center Moratorium Act, which would freeze new data center construction until safety standards are established.
Sanders has also proposed the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, a bill that would impose a one-time 50% tax on major AI companies and funnel the proceeds into a public fund.