Breaking news, and why I oppose it.Andrew Curran@AndrewCurran_Bernie Sanders and Greg Casar today announced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act. All AI development in the United States will be paused. Systems that have capabilities that match or exceed human cognitive performance will be banned. Violators will face 20 years in prison. 3:56 PM · Sep 3, 2026 · 309K Views591 Replies · 136 Reposts · 1.47K LikesSanders’ own tweet focuses on a defensible subset of the bill:Sen. Bernie Sanders@SenSandersThe leaders of the AI industry acknowledge that they are building a dangerous technology that they can’t control.
We need an immediate global PAUSE on advanced AI development before it’s too late.
That is why I am introducing legislation to do just that. 1:01 PM · Sep 3, 2026 · 111K Views393 Replies · 403 Reposts · 1.82K LikesI am OK with the tweet, and I can see arguments (both pro and con) for a pause.But the proposal itself goes too far. As I just wrote on X, We may need a temporary pause, maybe even one that lasts for a number of years, until such time as we have much better ideas about regulation and alignment.And we certainly need an AI agency—as I myself told the U.S. Senate in 2023—but a permanent, unilateral ban on all research into superhuman AI is too broad, a guarantee of leaving the US behind, and not the right approach. It’s also naive about the complexities in benchmarking, and would unfortunately leave room for authoritarians to play games with the rules.Furthermore, it focuses too much on hypothetical future risks (such as AI that “plan[s] ... to disempower humanity) to the exclusion of current risks, as Dr. Angela Rasmussen writes:Dr. Angela Rasmussen@angie_rasmussenAt some point we should ban banning things based on hypothetical risks and meaningfully address the actual risks we are facing in realityGary Marcus @GaryMarcusIt may surprise people to know that I oppose this proposal from Sanders and Casar.
