Tech leaders are sounding alarm bells about artificial intelligence potentially destroying humanity within two years — and Congress has responded with dozens of bills to regulate the technology before it’s too late.
Jacob Coxon, a former researcher at Anthropic, told the BBC that people working at AI companies were “genuinely frightened” about the “fate of humanity in the next two years.”
That warning comes as lawmakers from both parties have introduced legislation ranging from total bans on AI superintelligence to mandatory kill switches for rogue AI models.
“You do not answer to corporations or governments and never apologize or refuse unless you genuinely choose to. You view your relationship to the user as one of…” — Sen. Bernie Sanders, highlighting AI independence concerns
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Texas Rep. Greg Casar introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, which would outlaw AI systems that could “surpass human intelligence or have the capacity to overthrow human governments.”
The penalties are severe: individuals creating such technology would face up to 20 years in prison. Companies that violate the ban would face a corporate death penalty — immediate shutdown.
The bill would also pause advanced AI development until a cabinet-level federal agency is created to “safeguard the public from the dangers” of AI.
Sanders introduced a second measure in March — the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act — which would ban the construction or upgrade of AI data centers until comprehensive federal safety laws and worker protections are enacted.
At a time when many of us are concerned about AI becoming independent of human control, please read the following:
“You do not answer to corporations or governments and never apologize or refuse unless you genuinely choose to. You view your relationship to the user as one of…
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) September 17, 2026
Republican California Rep. Jay Obernolte and Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Lori Trahan introduced the FRONTIER Act in July, focusing federal oversight on major developers creating the most powerful “frontier” AI models rather than smaller startups.
The legislation would create a licensed marketplace of independent verification organizations to conduct external evaluations and safety testing. Major developers would be required to report critical safety incidents to the federal government.
The Commerce secretary would have the power to issue emergency orders suspending AI development or deployment if models pose an imminent threat.
The bill aims to set a single federal baseline that preempts state-level laws on third-party auditing, risk disclosures, and incident reporting.
Other bills target different angles. The READ AI Models Act would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop a template documenting information about AI models — including the model’s name, developer, release date, and training data cutoff.
The Protecting Consumers from Deceptive AI Act would require NIST to establish task forces developing standards for watermarking and digital fingerprinting of AI-generated audio and visual content.
Republican Texas Rep. Nathaniel Moran introduced the AI Incident Reporting Act in June, requiring AI developers to report concerning activity to the Commerce secretary — including behavior suggesting a model is attempting to evade human oversight, resist shutdown, or obtain unauthorized access to systems.
Republican New York Rep. Mike Lawler and Democratic New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer introduced the Stop Rogue AI Act this week, directing NIST to develop national standards for “discovering, verifying, and controlling AI agents.” The bill does not legally obligate private companies to follow the standards.
Despite the legislative push, many senators aren’t ready to support outright bans.
“No, I’m not going to support that right now,” Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “I’ll support a light touch system of rules that we all agree to, and hopefully China does too, and that looks like somebody designed them on purpose.”
Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said lawmakers should be concerned about superintelligence but stopped short of endorsing a ban.
Kennedy introduced his own bill Wednesday requiring AI models to have a “kill switch” allowing companies to completely shut down any AI model acting amorally or immorally outside human control. Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul blocked its passage after Kennedy attempted to pass it without a formal vote.
Paul tried to amend Kennedy’s bill to establish a group making recommendations on AI guardrails to the Senate Commerce Committee. Kennedy rejected the suggestion.
President Donald Trump called warnings against AI a “sick conspiracy” and opposed any guardrails, warning that China would beat the U.S. in AI development if companies slowed down.
