Sanders calls for artificial superintelligence ban after OpenAI CEO interview

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday called for permanently banning artificial superintelligence in response to recent remarks made by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Altman told Politico’s “Decoded” podcast in an interview last week that society will face a “coming tidal wave of cybersecurity problems” coming from open-source AI models. He also said that people will “have to just accept some fairly severe cyber incidents from open models, in exchange for the liberty that comes with that.”

“No, Mr. Altman. We won’t accept a severe AI cyberattack in exchange for ‘liberty,'” Sanders wrote on the social platform X , later asking, “Mr. Altman: What do you mean by that?”

Sanders wrote that Americans “are not willing to accept disaster ‘in exchange for the liberty’ of making Big Tech Oligarchs even richer and more powerful,” adding that tech developers working on AI “are not above the law.”

“If you and other Big Tech Oligarchs make products that commit crimes or disasters, we will hold you accountable for breaking the law — no matter how much wealth and power you have,” Sanders continued. “We must PAUSE advanced AI and permanently BAN artificial superintelligence before it is too late.”

Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) last month introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act which would institute the permanent ban, along with temporarily pausing “advanced AI development” until federal regulators establish safety standards.

The bill would also direct the U.S. to seek diplomatic agreements to prevent the development of superintelligence and establish a Cabinet-level federal agency to focus on AI safety rules.

This bill is the latest of several proposals floated by progressives in Congress to slow down AI development amid recent cybersecurity incidents and hacks involving rogue AI software, including an unsuccessful hack of the Department of Education’s website and a hack of Australia’s health department .

The chorus of concern grew after former OpenAI and Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon warned last month that AI could pose an existential threat to human life on Earth.

Sanders, who sided with Pope Leo XIV’s warnings about AI’s impact on the art world , slammed President Trump over his response to developing AI.

“Look, it is embarrassing, really, I think, going beyond politics, how ignorant this president is about the dangers of AI,” Sanders told MS NOW last month .

Trump said he would launch an “ AI czar ” and has launched a “ Super Intelligence Force ” in response to the technology’s development, but has praised AI’s possibilities despite the bipartisan calls for regulation.

The president has sought to rebrand AI as “ super intelligence , and recently signed a pledge with tech executives that put the name in writing across the executive branch.