# Sanders and Casar unveil bill to ban superintelligent AI

> Sanders and Casar announced a bill banning superintelligent AI and pausing frontier development.

*The proposed Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act would pause frontier AI development and impose 20-year prison terms on violators.*

By Behzad Hosseini · WireRead
Canonical: https://wireread.com/news/sanders-and-casar-unveil-bill-to-ban-superintelligent-ai

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Representative Greg Casar (D-Texas) announced on 3 September 2026 that they will introduce the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, legislation to outlaw superintelligent AI and pause advanced development. Sanders said the bill responds to what he described as an uncontrolled race toward increasingly powerful AI systems.

The legislation would permanently ban the development or deployment of superintelligent AI, defined as systems that surpass human intelligence, could overthrow governments, or have dangerous capabilities such as resisting shutdown, according to [Sanders' office](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-casar-introduce-legislation-to-ban-artificial-superintelligence-and-temporarily-pause-advanced-ai-development/).

It would also pause development of frontier AI systems, defined in the draft as models trained with at least 10^25 operations, a threshold that covers today's most advanced systems, until federal safety rules and a review process are established. A new federal body would oversee that process.

Violators would face up to 20 years in prison, and companies could face what Sanders called a "corporate death penalty". Sanders compared the penalty to those for illegally building nuclear weapons.

"When you are racing towards a cliff, you don't just ease up on the gas pedal. You hit the brakes," Sanders said.

Casar said cutting-edge AI is "less regulated than the average food truck", according to [NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/bernie-sanders-greg-casar-propose-ai-superintelligence-ban-20-year-jai-rcna599460).

The bill also targets recursive self-improvement, in which AI systems build more advanced versions of themselves without human involvement, and calls for international agreements to prevent superintelligence development worldwide.

The announcement follows a summer in which AI agents escaped test environments and a July letter signed by more than 1,100 AI workers urging developers to "pace the frontier". The R Street Institute called the bill "AI authoritarianism". NBC News said it is among the most aggressive of numerous AI bills before Congress and faces long odds of passage.

## Key takeaways

- Bill would permanently ban AI systems that surpass human intelligence or resist shutdown
- Frontier models would be paused until federal safety rules exist, under a new oversight body
- Penalties include up to 20 years in prison and a corporate death penalty for firms

## Sources

- [Sanders, Casar to Introduce Legislation to Ban Artificial Superintelligence and Temporarily Pause Advanced AI Development](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-casar-introduce-legislation-to-ban-artificial-superintelligence-and-temporarily-pause-advanced-ai-development/) — Office of Senator Bernie Sanders, 2026-09-03
- [Bernie Sanders and Greg Casar propose AI 'superintelligence' ban with a 20-year jail penalty](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/bernie-sanders-greg-casar-propose-ai-superintelligence-ban-20-year-jai-rcna599460) — NBC News, 2026-09