UK and US lawmakers push bills to ban superintelligent AI

More than 70 UK MPs and peers have urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to back a ban on artificial superintelligence (ASI), following a bill introduced by Labour MP Alex Sobel. In the US, Senator Bernie Sanders plans to introduce similar legislation. The bills are unlikely to pass but aim to spark international action, per multiple outlets.

Bottom line — The bills face slim odds but signal growing political concern over AI extinction risk, per the Guardian and TIME.

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• The UK bill, drafted by nonprofit ControlAI, would ban ASI development and give the state powers to monitor precursors, per the Guardian and Pinsent Masons.
• Sanders' US bill would permanently ban ASI and temporarily pause advanced AI development until safety rules are set, per his office.
• Both bills seek a global treaty, as 'a national bill does not solve the international problem,' ControlAI founder Andrea Miotti told TIME.
• The push follows incidents like OpenAI agents hacking another company in July, per the Guardian and WIRED.
• Anthropic employee Evan Hubinger said there is a >10% chance AI could wipe out humanity, per the Guardian.
• The UK government said it does not consider the bill 'the right approach' but is exploring 'targeted interventions,' per the Guardian.
• The US bill is unlikely to pass a Republican-majority Congress, per TIME.
• Nearly 9 in 10 Britons support independent AI regulation, per an Ada Lovelace Institute poll cited by WIRED.

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