Sanders Bill Would Ban AI Superintelligence, Jail Builders

"Nearly every day, there is a frightening new story about how Big Tech companies are losing control of the technology they are developing, with potentially cataclysmic results," Sanders said. "The leaders of the major AI companies publicly acknowledge that they do not fully understand the technology and that it is escaping their control. It is irresponsible for society to allow them to move forward and make these products even more advanced."

"The future of humanity cannot be left in the hands of a handful of Big Tech oligarchs," Sanders added.

"Despite its potential deadly consequences, cutting-edge AI technology is less regulated than the average food truck," Casar said. "That must change. In just four years, we have gone from the first version of ChatGPT to AI models so powerful they cannot be properly controlled."

Casar said in a video Thursday that the OpenAI breach was an "unprecedented moment in the history of technology" and that Washington's response amounted to "nothing. No new guardrails being passed by Congress. No new protections against this signed into law by the president of the United States."

The industry's position is self-governance. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote last month that the way to handle superintelligence risk is to "distribute it widely and give every person the ability to direct it." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said this week he was "in awe" of his company's progress but that "we have needed more time to catch up with safety, alignment, and security."

Sanders and Casar point out that Meta said last year it would "stop development" and OpenAI said it would "halt further development" once the technology outran safe operation, and Anthropic pledged in 2023 to "pause the scaling and/or delay the deployment of new models." Their verdict: "none of these companies have taken meaningful steps to back up these words."