Senator Bernie Sanders urges Trump, Xi to ‘hit the brakes’ on AI: ‘Future of humanity is at stake’

Following warnings from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and xAI chief Elon Musk about the pace of AI progress, the US senator has called for a treaty to pause advanced AI development and ban superintelligence. He wants Trump and Xi to take up the issue at their upcoming AI summit.

Washington: US Senator Bernie Sanders has called on President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to negotiate a treaty that would pause the development of advanced artificial intelligence and ban the creation of “superintelligence”.

He made the appeal after three leading AI industry leaders raised worries over the speed at which the technology is developing. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently warned about the risks posed by increasingly powerful AI models. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman backed his call for a slower pace, while xAI chief Elon Musk also agreed with Amodei.

Sanders said the warnings from the technology industry were an important starting point, but called for stronger action from governments.

Writing on X, he said: “Dario Amodei, Elon Musk and Sam Altman now agree that we must slow down the development of AI and ‘pace the frontier’. That’s a start, but it’s not enough.”

He then used a driving analogy to press his case.

“When you are racing towards a cliff, you don’t just ease up on the gas pedal. You hit the brakes.”

Sanders said the issue goes beyond the interests of technology companies and governments. “When the future of humanity is at stake we need a PAUSE on advanced AI development and a ban on artificial superintelligence – an AI mind smarter than any human and capable of operating independently beyond our control,” he said.

He wants Trump and Xi to act

He called for Trump and Xi to use their upcoming AI summit to negotiate an international treaty on the development of advanced artificial intelligence.

“At their upcoming AI summit, Trump and Xi must negotiate a treaty to pause AI and ban superintelligence before it is too late,” he said.

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His proposal comes at a time when the United States and China are competing heavily in artificial intelligence, with major technology companies in both countries working to build capable AI systems.

The senator has called for a pause in advanced AI development and a ban on artificial superintelligence. He described such a system as an AI mind that would be smarter than any human and capable of operating independently beyond human control.

What Anthropic CEO said

Amodei warned about the pace of AI development in a post on his personal website. He acknowledged the benefits that AI can bring to areas such as healthcare, while warning that developing the technology too fast could carry serious risks.

He said the risks include losing control of AI systems, the misuse of AI for cyberattacks and bioterrorism and major disruption to the economy.

“They include the risk of losing control of AI systems, misuse of AI for cyberattacks and bioterrorism and serious economic disruption,” he wrote.

He called for technology companies to slow down the rate at which they improve the capabilities of AI models.

“We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models. Progress will still seem fast, and we must make wise use of the time we gain,” he wrote.

Altman and Musk back Amodei

Altman’s response shows that OpenAI has also been looking at the issue in recent weeks. The company's CEO said the need to control the pace of AI development has become a major subject of talks at the company in recent weeks.

“I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier. This has been a primary topic of discussions we’ve had at OpenAI in recent weeks. Committing to having independent evaluators with employee-like access is a great idea, and we will do the same. We’ll have more to share soon,” he said.

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Musk also responded to Amodei's warning on X. His message was brief, “Dario is right”.

The comments from Amodei, Altman and Musk have added weight to calls for greater caution in the development of advanced AI. Sanders is now asking Trump and Xi to take the issue to the government level and negotiate limits on how far the technology should be allowed to develop.

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