US democrats propose severe legislation to ban super AI development, threatening prison time

The U.S. Democratic Party has introduced a draft bill, the Ban on Artificial Superintelligence Act, which mandates a complete prohibition on creating and deploying super AI. The proposed penalties are severe, suggesting that individuals violating the act could face up to 20 years in federal prison, with sentencing standards comparable to those for illegal nuclear weapons development. Furthermore, the legislation calls for the outright dissolution of any companies found to be in violation. To define the prohibited technology, the draft outlines two criteria for superintelligence: an AI that matches or exceeds human cognitive ability across various tasks, or a system capable of planning attacks sufficient to undermine or overthrow the U.S. government. The bill also proposes establishing a new cabinet-level Department of Artificial Intelligence to oversee frontier models, granting it authority to compel technical teams to remove dangerous capabilities, such as recursive self-improvement. Beyond domestic regulation, the proposal includes a foreign policy objective for a global ban on superintelligence. This would require the U.S. government to pursue international agreements, secure allied cooperation, and implement strict export controls to prevent ASI development worldwide. The draft mandates a complete halt to advanced AI research until a dedicated federal regulatory body and clear review mechanisms are established.