Sanders Pushes Permanent US Superintelligent AI Ban With 20-Year Prison Terms

U.S. legislators proposed laws that would permanently ban the development or deployment of artificial superintelligence and pause the development of advanced AI systems. Those who break the law could face up to 20 years in prison.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Texas Representative Greg Casar announced on September 3 that they were working on legislation to be titled the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, which would institute a moratorium on advanced AI development and require safety regimes and model review processes at a new federal regulator.

According to the lawmakers’ summary, superintelligence includes systems that can match or outperform human cognitive abilities across a broad range of tasks.

This would include systems that plan, direct, or otherwise cause actions that would disempower humanity, subvert government policy, resist removal or shutdown, or carry out unauthorized cyberattacks.