Policy & legislationAnnounced forthcoming proposal · statutory text not located
Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act
Period or event: 2026-09-03 · Reviewed September 12, 2026 · Record policy-asi-announcement-2026
Sanders and Greg Casar announced forthcoming legislation to ban defined superintelligent AI and pause advanced development pending a new federal regulator. The official summary proposes up to 20 years for persons attempting to violate or circumvent its pauses and prohibitions.
What the source records
Proposal
Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act
Announcement date
September 3, 2026
Announcing lawmakers
Bernie Sanders and Greg Casar
Legislative status verified
Forthcoming proposal described in official materials; no filed number or full statutory text located
Maximum prison term proposed
20 yearsMaximum described in sponsor summary; not a mandatory sentence or enacted offense.
Proposed trigger
Attempts to violate or circumvent the described pauses and prohibitions
Systems described
Systems matching or exceeding human cognition across broad tasks, or easily modified to do so; alternatively systems capable of planning and executing humanity’s disempowerment
Additional pause
Advanced AI development until a regulator and safety/model-review rules exist
Entity penalty described
Corporate-death penaltyThe available summary does not explain a statutory dissolution mechanism.
Scope & limitations
The source is a one-page sponsor summary and announcement, not verified statutory offense language.
The summary does not provide an operational definition of advanced AI or easily modified systems.
Criminal intent, exceptions, responsible-person rules, transition provisions, appeals and other offense elements cannot be determined from these materials.
Do not describe every AI developer or ordinary AI use as criminalized; equally, do not imply that the summary is limited solely to malicious conduct.
Formal bill sponsorship, cosponsorship, introduction date and enactment require a filed legislative record.
U.S. Senate / Senator Bernie Sanders office · official sponsor announcement · Document date 2026-09-03 · Checked 2026-09-12
Official webpage body
Source proves the recorded statement or legislative text. Assertions about third parties contained within it are not independently established by republication.
U.S. Senate / Senator Bernie Sanders office · official sponsor summary · Document date 2026-09-03 · Checked 2026-09-12
Page 1: definitions, pause, penalties and agency bullets
Undated one-page summary linked from the September 3, 2026 announcement. Document date below reflects the associated release, not an independently printed PDF date.