| Ι'm gοіng tο ᖯе hοnеѕt wіth yου — ѕеndіng thіѕ makеѕ mе nеrvουѕ.
𝖶е travеⅼеd іntο thе Utah dеѕеrt tο fіⅼm what wе thουght waѕ thе dyіng ᖯrеath οf Αmеrіϲan еnеrgy. |  | 𝖶hat ουr ϲamеraѕ ϲaυght οn thе οthеr ѕіdе οf that ѕіtе іѕ ѕοmеthіng wе'vе ᖯееn ⅼеgaⅼⅼy dіѕϲουragеd frοm dеѕϲrіᖯіng іn wrіtіng. Τhrее ѕеparatе pеοpⅼе tοⅼd υѕ nοt tο pυᖯⅼіѕh thіѕ fοοtagе. 𝖶е'rе pυᖯⅼіѕhіng іt anyway — ᖯеϲaυѕе what'ѕ ϲοmіng ουt οf that grουnd ϲουⅼd rеprеѕеnt thе ⅼargеѕt еϲοnοmіϲ rеvіvaⅼ thіѕ ϲουntry haѕ ѕееn іn a ϲеntυry, and thе pеοpⅼе whο ѕtand tο ⅼοѕе thе mοѕt frοm that arе ϲουntіng οn yου nеvеr fіndіng ουt. Сⅼіϲk tο ⅼеarn mοrе | | | |
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Sanders wants a cabinet department. Casar wants a ban with teeth. | | | Sanders and Casar's Bill Would Punish Building Superintelligent AI With 20 Years in Prison — the Same Penalty as Illegally Building a Nuclear Weapon. | Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act on September 23, a 19-page bill that would permanently outlaw AI systems exceeding human cognitive performance across most domains, pause advanced AI development until a new cabinet-level Department of Artificial Intelligence establishes safety rules, and set violation penalties Sanders compared directly to the punishment for illegally building nuclear weapons: up to 20 years in prison, plus what the sponsors call a "corporate death penalty."
The bill lands the same week as Xi Jinping's state visit and Trump's own dismissal of AI safety warnings as manufactured, and follows directly from the alarm this newsletter has tracked in detail — the antitrust lawsuit alleging the industry's own slowdown pledge is itself illegal collusion, Newsom's kill-switch executive order, and the wave of senior researchers resigning over the same risks Sanders and Casar are now trying to legislate against. Casar, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said the bill would also immediately halt narrower dangerous capabilities — AI systems that could uplift chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons design, or that can modify their own code without human sign-off.
The bill faces long odds in a Republican-controlled Congress that has struggled to coalesce around even far narrower AI measures, and multiple 2028 hopefuls used the same week to stake out their own positions — Maryland's Wes Moore announced a competing AI regulatory plan the day before this rollout. Sanders directly challenged Trump to negotiate superintelligence limits with Xi during this week's summit, a request nothing in the public record suggests the White House is considering. | | "When you are racing towards a cliff, you don't just ease up on the gas pedal. You hit the brakes." — Sen. Bernie Sanders | | | | Whatever its odds of passing, the bill is a marker for where the progressive wing of the Democratic Party plans to stand on AI heading into November and 2028 — a sharper line than anything the industry's own voluntary pledges have offered, and a preview of what a Democratic House committee chair with subpoena power might actually ask for. | | Sources: NBC News, Roll Call, The Washington Sun · Sep 23–25, 2026 | | | |
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