In a wide-ranging interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, longtime US progressive Senator Bernie Sanders has laid out a bold, precautionary policy agenda for the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence sector, headlined by a call to halt the race to develop advanced superintelligence systems.
The call comes amid growing bipartisan and expert concern over the unregulated pace of AI advancement, with many leading figures in the technology itself warning that ungoverned development of systems that can outperform human cognition across most domains poses existential and widespread economic risks. Sanders used the platform to amplify these warnings, urging policymakers to rein in the breakneck speed of innovation that prioritizes corporate profit over public safety and equity. His core message to the industry and regulators alike was straightforward: “Slow it down.”
Beyond the call for a ban on AI superintelligence, Sanders has put forward a groundbreaking structural economic proposal to reshape how the United States engages with the AI boom. The plan would establish a new federal sovereign wealth fund that grants the U.S. government a 50% equity stake in major artificial intelligence companies. The senator argues that this model would ensure that the massive economic gains generated by AI innovation are not concentrated solely in the hands of a small group of corporate executives and wealthy shareholders, but instead are shared broadly across the American public. Proponents of similar models suggest the revenue generated from the stake could fund social programs, infrastructure development, and support for workers displaced by AI-driven automation.
The proposal marks one of the most aggressive federal policy frameworks for AI governance put forward by a sitting elected official in the U.S., setting up a potential new debate over regulation, public ownership, and equitable distribution of tech sector gains in the lead-up to future congressional policy debates.