The Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, Sanders and Casar
Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Greg Casar announced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act on 3 September 2026. Per the sponsors' release it would permanently ban developing or deploying superintelligent AI, pause advanced AI development until a new cabinet level regulator has rules and a model review process, and carry penalties of corporate dissolution and up to 20 years in prison. Press reported introduction on 4 September; no bill number was found on congress.gov on 16 September. It binds nobody yet.
The verdict
Verified
The document exists. The ledger fetched it at its publisher and quotes it.
Key facts
What the sources say
- Record ID
- DKT-2026-0004
- Kind
- Bill
- Jurisdiction
- United States
- Last verified
- Added
- The sponsors' release of 3 September 2026 describes a permanent ban on developing or deploying superintelligent AI and a pause on advanced AI development until a new federal regulator has rules and a model review process.
- The release creates a cabinet level agency advised by an AI Advisory Board, sets penalties of corporate dissolution and up to 20 years in prison, and makes it US policy to pursue international agreements and export controls.
- The release quotes messages exchanged by agents in the Hugging Face incident; this ledger does not reproduce them and links the release instead.
- Gary Marcus published his objections on 3 September 2026: a permanent unilateral ban is too broad, benchmarking a threshold is harder than the bill assumes, and present harms get less attention than speculative ones.
- Roll Call reported on 15 September 2026 that President Trump called AI concerns a hoax and Speaker Mike Johnson opposed a moratorium on AI development.
Dimension by dimension
7 dimensions, each one stated, silent or open
Binding, Stage, What it would require, What it does not do, Who is for it, Who is against it, Next step on the record. Stated means the document you can open below says it; silent means the ledger read the document and it does not.
- BindingStated
- Not yet: announced and, per press, introduced; not enacted.Senator Bernie Sanders, NEWS: Sanders, Casar to introduce legislation to ban artificial superintelligence and temporarily pause advanced AI development, primary source, 3 September 2026.
- StageOpen
- Announced 3 September 2026 with a release and a summary PDF; press reported introduction on 4 September; no bill number or text was found on congress.gov by this ledger on 16 September 2026.Senator Bernie Sanders, NEWS: Sanders, Casar to introduce legislation to ban artificial superintelligence and temporarily pause advanced AI development, primary source, 3 September 2026.
- What it would requireStated
- No development or deployment of superintelligent AI by any person or entity; advanced AI development paused until the new agency has rules and a review process; criminal and corporate penalties.Senator Bernie Sanders, NEWS: Sanders, Casar to introduce legislation to ban artificial superintelligence and temporarily pause advanced AI development, primary source, 3 September 2026.
- What it does not doStated
- Per the release it does not ban AI research or products below the superintelligence definition, and it does not itself define the pause's end beyond the regulator's rules.Senator Bernie Sanders, NEWS: Sanders, Casar to introduce legislation to ban artificial superintelligence and temporarily pause advanced AI development, primary source, 3 September 2026.
- Who is for itStated
- Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Greg Casar, the sponsors.Senator Bernie Sanders, NEWS: Sanders, Casar to introduce legislation to ban artificial superintelligence and temporarily pause advanced AI development, primary source, 3 September 2026.
- Who is against itStated
- Gary Marcus (Marcus on AI, 3 September 2026); President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson as reported by Roll Call on 15 September 2026; Dario Amodei opposes a ban (CBS News, 14 September 2026).Gary Marcus, The new Sanders-Casar Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act and why I oppose it, secondary source, 3 September 2026.
- Next step on the recordReported
- Introduction and referral are the next steps on the record; Sanders convened a bipartisan Senate briefing on 16 September 2026 (DKT-2026-0008).Roll Call, AI threats confront a Congress far from erecting guardrails, secondary source, 15 September 2026.
What it changes
For a policy or compliance lead
Nothing today, and everything if enacted: this is the only instrument on the docket that would make a category of AI development a crime. For a compliance lead the working question is definitional. The release defines superintelligence by capability across a broad range of domains, and Marcus's objection is that no accepted benchmark draws that line. Track the bill text when it appears on congress.gov, and read the definition first, because every duty in the bill hangs on it.
Sources
What this record was verified against
- Senator Bernie Sanders, NEWS: Sanders, Casar to introduce legislation to ban artificial superintelligence and temporarily pause advanced AI developmentPrimary · 3 September 2026
- Gary Marcus, The new Sanders-Casar Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act and why I oppose itSecondary · 3 September 2026
- Roll Call, AI threats confront a Congress far from erecting guardrailsSecondary · 15 September 2026
Related
Records that sit beside this one
Senator Sanders' letter asking OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta to pause AI development
United States · verified 16 September 2026
Axios reported the letters on 10 August 2026; Sanders cited each company's own earlier statements that it would stop or pause if its systems became too risky to control.
Gary Marcus, why I oppose the Sanders-Casar Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act
United States · verified 16 September 2026
Published 3 September 2026 under the title The new Sanders-Casar Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act and why I oppose it.
Senator Sanders' bipartisan Senate briefing with Geoffrey Hinton, Max Tegmark and Ajeya Cotra
United States · verified 16 September 2026
TNW reported on 10 September 2026 that the briefing was set for 16 September, bipartisan, private, one hour, with Hinton, Tegmark and Cotra addressing senators.
The AI Kill Switch Act, Representatives Lieu and Moran
United States · verified 16 September 2026
Lieu's release of 23 July 2026 describes three duties: maintain the technical ability to throttle, suspend or shut down covered systems; a graduated response matched to severity; incident reporting and forensic record preservation.
Senator John Kennedy's kill switch legislation for AI models
United States · verified 16 September 2026
Newsweek reported on 15 September 2026 that Kennedy planned to bring up his kill switch plan by unanimous consent request on Wednesday, saying that is the only way to get anything done in the time left.
Jacob Coxon's resignation from Anthropic and his call to stop accelerating recursive self improvement
United States · verified 16 September 2026
Time reported on 9 September 2026 that Coxon resigned on 8 September and that his post on X is at x.com/hilbertspaess; the post itself was not fetched by this ledger.
Cite this record
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0, with attribution. The record ID DKT-2026-0004 is permanent and is never reused.
- In a sentence
- According to the GAGE Slowdown Docket (as of 16 September 2026), the ban artificial superintelligence act, sanders and casar.
- APA
- GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). (2026). The Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, Sanders and Casar. Slowdown Docket. Retrieved 16 September 2026, from https://www.gage.academy/tools/slowdown-docket/records/DKT-2026-0004-ban-artificial-superintelligence-act
- MLA
- "The Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, Sanders and Casar." Slowdown Docket, GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education), 16 September 2026, https://www.gage.academy/tools/slowdown-docket/records/DKT-2026-0004-ban-artificial-superintelligence-act.
- Chicago
- GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). "The Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, Sanders and Casar." Slowdown Docket. Last modified 16 September 2026. https://www.gage.academy/tools/slowdown-docket/records/DKT-2026-0004-ban-artificial-superintelligence-act.
- Permalink
- https://www.gage.academy/tools/slowdown-docket/records/DKT-2026-0004-ban-artificial-superintelligence-act
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