New federal office gets power to stop advanced AI work.
S. 5493 — Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act of 2026 · Filed by Bernie Sanders (I-VT) · Introduced Sep 23, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill creates a new office for AI. It stops work on very advanced AI systems until the office is ready. The office must write safety rules first. It bans making, using, or owning superintelligence. It bans AI that can change itself, trick people, or break into locked systems. People and groups who break this law face up to 20 years in prison. They also face bans from the industry and loss of their AI work and money.
Who it affects
AI makers, researchers, and people who use advanced AI tools would be hit. The bill gives one federal office big power to decide what AI work is allowed.
One thing to notice
The head of the new office can decide what counts as a risky AI system. The head can search any maker's files and buildings without a court order.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 23, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 23, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- superintelligence — AI that is smarter than humans at almost all tasks.
- bans — Rules that stop people from doing something.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (18,906 characters) on Oct 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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