'Hit brakes, ban superintelligence': US Senator warns Trump, Xi on AI race after alarm by top industry leaders
US Senator Bernie Sanders has urged Donald Trump to go beyond slowing the pace of artificial intelligence development, calling for a pause on advanced AI and a ban on artificial superintelligence.
**EDS: THIRD PARTY IMAGE** In this image posted on Sept. 12, 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping during the BRICS Summit 2026 session on 'Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism', at Bharat Mandapam, in New Delhi. (@SpoxCHN_MaoNing/X via PTI Photo)(PTI09_12_2026_000556B) (@SpoxCHN_MaoNing)In a post on X, Sanders cited growing concerns from AI industry leaders, saying Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman now agree that AI development needs to be slowed and the frontier “paced” - a pitch that is being described as the wildest night in the field.
“That’s a start, but it’s not enough,” Sanders said, adding that simply easing the pace of development would not address the risks posed by increasingly powerful AI systems.
"Dario Amodei, Elon Musk and Sam Altman now agree that we must slow down the development of AI and “pace the frontier. That’s a start, but it’s not enough. When you are racing towards a cliff, you don’t just ease up on the gas pedal. You hit the brakes,” he said.
“When the future of humanity is at stake we need a PAUSE on advanced AI development and a ban on artificial superintelligence — an AI mind smarter than any human and capable of operating independently beyond our control,” Sanders said.
He said Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping must negotiate a treaty to pause AI and ban superintelligence before it is too late at their upcoming AI summit.
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