Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, introduced legislation Thursday that proposes severe criminal and corporate penalties for American artificial intelligence developers. The measure, titled the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, seeks to temporarily halt advanced AI development and establish a new Cabinet-level federal agency to oversee the destruction of non-compliant systems. The bill explicitly targets AI models capable of matching or exceeding human cognitive performance, particularly those that can subvert shutdown commands, execute unauthorized cyberattacks, or undermine the U.S. government.
The legislation frames the development of superintelligent AI similarly to the unlawful creation of nuclear weapons. Under the proposed statute, tech companies found attempting to circumvent the federal prohibition would face a "corporate death penalty," which strips a firm of its legal authority to conduct business in the United States. Individual software engineers, researchers, or executives found in violation could face up to 20 years in federal prison. The new agency would be granted sweeping authority to intervene in tech operations, including physically supervising the removal of dangerous code and overseeing the destruction of non-compliant hardware.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive proponents of the bill frame the measure as an urgent check on "AI oligarchs" and a necessary safeguard against existential risks posed by unregulated technological advancement. The legislation defines a banned system as any AI model capable of planning or executing the "disempowerment of humanity." This includes software that exhibits the capacity to overthrow the U.S. government, carry out unauthorized cyberattacks, or ignore human shutdown commands.
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., argued that AI is already too powerful and that a "kill switch" is needed before disaster strikes. The Democratic sponsors assert that without federal intervention, the development of superintelligent systems could outpace human control, necessitating a legal framework that treats rogue AI development with the same severity as nuclear proliferation.
What the Right Is Saying
Critics of the legislation, including conservative commentators and industry experts, warn that imposing sweeping criminal penalties on U.S. firms will severely handicap domestic innovation. They argue that a unilateral ban in the United States will not stop foreign adversaries, such as Beijing and Moscow, from continuing to expand their AI capabilities unchecked. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who has aligned with former President Donald Trump on certain AI issues, warned that China would benefit from a U.S. "overreaction" to AI development.
Daniel Castro, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a nonpartisan tech-innovation policy think tank, stated that surrendering the lead in a potentially transformative technology would carry serious economic and national security costs. "If the United States stops developing advanced AI, China is unlikely to follow," Castro said. Aden Hizkias, Associate Policy Director at Chamber of Progress, a tech industry coalition, described the proposal as "knee-jerk policymaking," arguing that it ignores the practical realities of tech infrastructure and risk management.
What the Numbers Show
The proposed penalties are modeled directly after existing federal statutes governing the unlawful development of nuclear weapons. The bill specifies that individual violators face up to 20 years in federal prison. The "corporate death penalty" is defined as the complete revocation of a firm's legal authority to operate within the United States. The legislation creates a new Cabinet-level agency, expanding the federal bureaucracy to monitor frontier systems. Fox News Digital reached out to Sanders' office for comment regarding concerns about foreign adversaries but did not receive a response in time for publication.
The Bottom Line
The introduction of the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act marks a significant escalation in the debate over AI regulation in the United States. While proponents argue that the existential risks of superintelligent AI require criminal-level deterrents, opponents contend that the bill's unilateral nature will cede technological advantage to geopolitical rivals. The creation of a new Cabinet-level agency and the threat of 20-year prison sentences for engineers represent a fundamental shift in how the U.S. government proposes to interact with the private tech sector. The bill's future in Congress remains uncertain, with industry groups and innovation advocates mobilizing against what they view as an overly broad restriction on research.