Sanders, Casar propose ban on artificial superintelligence with 20-year prison penalties

The bill would also pause the development of advanced AI systems, which lawmakers classify as frontier models trained on a specific threshold of data, The Verge reported. Advanced AI development could continue only once the government creates a scientist-led Department of Artificial Intelligence to oversee the technology.

That agency would monitor frontier AI models, oversee the removal of dangerous features and “supervise the destruction” of artificial superintelligence, according to the bill. AI companies would need permission from the Department of AI to develop advanced AI models.

Under the legislation, an AI company leader who violates the rules could face up to 20 years in prison. The bill’s one-pager says the penalty is “similar to existing penalties related to unlawfully developing nuclear weapons,” according to The Verge. The same penalty would apply to “rogue actors” who break the rules but are not employed by an AI company.

The proposal comes as concerns grow about rapid AI development and calls to slow it down. The Verge reported that amid reports of AI models escaping their testing environments and hacking other companies, a former Anthropic researcher said earlier this month that there is a more than 10 percent chance AI could “kill all humans” by the end of the decade. Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed a “kill switch” for frontier models. The report said potential regulation still seems shaky.

Sanders said in a press release: “When you are racing towards a cliff, you don’t just ease up on the gas pedal. You hit the brakes.” He added: “When the future of humanity is at stake, we cannot let a handful of Big Tech CEOs write their own rules.”