Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Greg Casar unveiled legislation on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, that would prohibit artificial superintelligence and create a new federal agency to regulate advanced artificial intelligence, according to the Associated Press.
The bill would pause development of advanced A.I. until regulatory safeguards are established. Sanders, who has previously advocated for both China and the United States to ban superintelligence, has consistently called for slowing the technology's rapid advancement.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Sanders said, "It doesn't take a genius to say, 'slow it down' ... Do we really want to develop a super intelligence that when it becomes smarter than human beings could act independently of human control? I don't think we do."
The announcement comes just days after President Donald Trump introduced his own approach to addressing concerns about A.I. — an A.I. Force. Despite Trump's characterization of the concern around A.I. as a "hoax," numerous members of the technology community have warned of a potential A.I.-driven catastrophe if its capabilities are not kept in check.
Sources indicate that executives at leading A.I. companies are endorsing the bill, which would halt advanced A.I. development until guardrails are implemented.