Sanders and Casar bill would jail superintelligence developers for 20 years

single source· 1 articles · confidence: medium · first seen 2026-09-23 16:23 UTC

What this means for you

Nothing to act on today: this is a bill introduction, not a law, and no committee action or vote is reported. If you build frontier models, the clause to watch is the definition — the bill's wording, not any measured capability threshold, decides what is banned.

Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Greg Casar have introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, which would make developing artificial superintelligence illegal in the United States. The bill describes its target as AI capable of the "destruction or disempowerment of humanity", including overthrowing the government — wording from the bill itself, not a measurable capability threshold. Violators, described in the report as AI leaders, would face up to 20 years in prison. The report does not say whether the bill has been referred to a committee or will get a vote.

Key facts

  • ·The Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act was introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Greg Casar (D-TX). source
  • ·The bill would ban anyone from developing artificial superintelligence. source
  • ·The bill's text describes its target as capable of the "destruction or disempowerment of humanity", including overthrowing the government. source
  • ·AI leaders would face up to 20 years in prison under the bill. source

What the sources say

  • The Verge AI — Reports the bill's scope, how it defines the technology, and the prison term attached.

Sources

The original reporting. Follow these — they did the work.

← the wire