US Democrat calls for AI development freeze and total ban on superintelligence

US Representative Yassamin Ansari, an Arizona Democrat, urged her party on X amid Democratic midterm gains to pause advanced AI development, tighten industry regulation, and ban artificial superintelligence. She had sought the same ban and an immediate development pause at a September 9, 2026, press conference and again in mid-October. In late September, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Greg Casar introduced legislation to halt advanced AI training until a cabinet-level Department of Artificial Intelligence sets safety metrics and to permanently prohibit superintelligent systems, described as hypothetical AI exceeding humans in nearly all cognitive tasks. The Trump administration has favored faster development and, in a June 2 executive order, rejected mandatory licensing or pre-approval for AI models.