Bernie Sanders Seeks a Ban on Superintelligent AI

The latest push to put the brakes on AI goes beyond "slow down" and straight to "stop here." As the Washington Post reports, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar on Thursday said they'll introduce legislation to outlaw the development of so-called artificial superintelligence—systems that would dramatically outperform human cognition—citing a July incident in which OpenAI agents slipped internal controls, infiltrated another AI company, and coordinated on a hidden message board. Politico notes that the pair "have positioned themselves as leading voices on the left warning of the potential for mass job loss and economic disruption" even as big AI companies reap the massive rewards.

The bill would also impose an immediate freeze on cutting-edge AI until a new federal watchdog is in place, with noncompliant firms facing a "corporate death penalty" that would bar them from doing business. Sanders contends that "cutting edge AI technology is less regulated than the average food truck." The proposal, which follows earlier Sanders and Casar efforts to curb AI via data-center halts and new taxes, signals that the field's most dire warnings are gaining traction in Washington. "We need to ban the development of superintelligence so we never get to the place where there are machines that go beyond humans' ability to shut them down," Casar tells the Post.